The Coal Saga
by Genro
Summary: After "Why can't we be friends?", a dark evil has descended upon Cell and the Z-fighters. It will take all they've got to defeat this new enemy. Especially since it has possessed none other than Cell himself!
1. The Coal Saga: Chapter 1

The Coal Saga: Chapter 1  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
Sapphire stared in horror as she watched her father start to change into the creature known as Coal. She cursed herself as she remembered all the good times she and her father had spent over the past two years since the christmas party. Sure she was ten now, but she loved her father very much, and it seered through her soul to think that this creature was trying to take him from her indefinately.  
"Everyone, get out of here. I'll handle this thing alone." said Goku simply, as his eyes burned with the determation from watching one of his friends being possessed.  
"No I'm staying!" cried Sapphire, not wanting her father out of sight, afaid she might lose him forever.  
"C'mon Sapphy. Goku can handle this. We'd just be in the way." comforted Trunx, taking her by the hand, and flying into the sky. She started to feel herself crying as she watched the diminshing figures of Goku and her father standing a few feet away from each other, poised to fight to the death.  
Jade's eyes moved from Coal to Goku as she felt like she was going to cry as well. She so much wanted to stay, but as she looked at the fallen Frieza, which she held in her arms, she realized that she had to get him to safety. As well, she would just be in the way here. So very reluctantly she fled the scene to join her daughter.  
"Dad I'm staying, you could use my help." said Gohan with a determined look.  
"I shall stay as well." added Piccolo as he held his arms out in front of him, as if in a battle stance.  
"You two can watch, I can handle this alone." repeated Goku again, determined to not get more of his friends involved in this.  
"You should allow them to help you Goku. Trust me, your going to need all that you can get." said Coal with a low voice, as he seemed perfectly calm about the whole situation.  
"Goku, you really are a fool to think you can handle this thing by yourself." growled Piccolo as he stood next to Goku.  
"He's right dad." agreed Gohan, standing on Goku's other side.  
"I'd like to help to." came a third voice. Piccolo turned around to see Kami standing next to him.  
"What can you do old man." growled Piccolo, not at all impressed with Kami's abilities.  
"I can fuse with you." he said solemnly.  
"But Kami!" cried Mr. Popo from behind him, knowing very well what this would mean.  
"We don't have time for this. Just get out of here old man." growled Piccolo, as he turned his head to see that Coal had still not moved an inch.  
  
"Enough talk." simply stated Coal, as he charged at the three fighters. They all simultaneously prepared for a blow, but it never came. They look around curiously for a few moments until they were all violently hit on the back.  
"How'd he get behind us." said Gohan, totatlly in awe of that last move, still recovering from it.  
"Looks like he wasn't kidding." Goku said, as he nodded to his son, standing up as well. Gohan understood that nod, and istantly turned into a super saiyan along with his father. Piccolo suddenly realized that he was way outclassed in this battle, but he would not let something like that slow him down.  
"He's coming!" Piccolo cried, as Coal appeared in front of them, looking like he was going to try the same move.  
"We're ready for him this time." said Goku as he, and the others jumped up into the air. They watched as Coal passed harmlessly under them. Though like last time, he suddenly appeared behind the three, and sent them all sprawling to the ground.  
"Seems your plan didn't work." said Coal, still looking like the wasn't even trying yet.  
"I'm going to wipe that grin off yoru face right now!" cried Piccolo as he charged forward in a mad rage.  
"Piccolo! No!." yelled Goku, but was to late.  
"Hmph." was the last sound Piccolo heard as he was violently punched, sending him flying into the sancuatory. Goku could feel himself visibly twitch in anger, as he watched Piccolo slowly get up from the crash, bruised and beaten.  
  
"Piccolo, I implore you. Fuse with me, otherwise you have no hope." repeated Kami, as he stood over the fallen Piccolo.  
"I told you old man, I don't need your help!" Piccolo yelled stubbornly, still not wanting the fuse to occur.  
"Fine then, you leave me no choice." stated Kami, as he physically picked up Piccolo off the ground, and started glowing.  
"Kami stop!" whimpered Mr. Popo, as he watched the glowing light which was Kami start to be fused with Piccolo. Piccolo screamed in utter surprise and bit of pain as the fusion occured. When the light subsided though, only one person stood there, Piccolo.  
"Hmph, I guess the old man was right all along." he stated dryly, as he tested out his newly fused body, still in a bit of awe about what had just happened. Afterwards, he returned to where Goku and Gohan were standing.  
"If we're going to defeat this thing. We have to use all our strength." stated Gohan, he and his father knowing that this was no time to fuss over Kami's fusion with Piccolo. And what he meant about strength of course meant only one thing. The two saiyans started to crackle with energy, and the whole area around them began to crackle with heat and energy.  
"And what's this?" said Coal, with slight surprise. He was quickly answered though as he watched the two Saiyans turn into super saiyan-jin 2. The three newly powered up warriors stood there, ready to show Coal what they really had in them.  
"And that is all you three got?" said Coal with a laugh, closing his eyes in what seemed concentration, or just mockery. This just caused all three warriors to feel totally humilated as they watched Coal do such a thing. They all charged at him, prepared to show him that their power was not to be taken lightly. Though the moment they contacted him, he suddenly re-openeded his eyes. And everything after that moment was an invisible battle, since their movements were faster then the eye could see. Only the occasional exposion or grunts of battle could be heard.   
Coal was attacked from all sides by the three fighters. He seemed to be trying at this point, but the fact that he could hold them all off at once was astounding.  
On the ground, Mr. Popo tried to watch the fight to no avail. His eyes were filled with tears, constantly reminding himself, that he would never see Kami again  
  
Meanwhile, Bulma was flying in her personal Capsule Corp. jet towards Kami's lookout looking for her son.  
"Why does he always have to run off like that. Jeez, I can't believe I have to fly such a long distance just to get him for lunch." she said to herself, slighlty annoyed. As she neared the place, she saw large explosions, as well as the sounds of people fighting.  
"Wow Frieza must be getting really good. It sounds like him and Goku are really going at it." she mused to herself as she was now only a few thousand feet away from the lookout.  
  
"Oh no!" yelled Goku as he flipped back, seeing Bulma in the sky. The other two fighters followed suit, and stopped fighting, as to watch the approaching jet.  
"What's Bulma doing here?!" questioned Gohan, thinking how horrible the situation will be if they have the fight Coal, and protect Bulma.  
"What is that woman doing." Piccolo added, as he was equally surprised by her actions.  
"Perfect." muttered Coal, as he started flying straight at the jet.  
"No stop!" cried Goku, chasing after him. But he widened his eyes in horror realizing that he wasn't going to make it. Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. Goku was entranced by the explosion. It all slowly hit him that his oldest friend, the one that had caused him to start the adventure that was his life, was now dead.  
  
Bulma screamed as loud as she could, as she realized that her jet had just exploded. But she looked around to see that she was still alive. And all she could think about was what had just happened, and how she had survived the blas. She would be answered after her brain finally started to function again, and what had saved her caused her mouth to drop open.  
"You should pick on somebody your own size." muttered Vegita, as he held Bulma in his arms.  
"Vegeta! All right!" yelled Goku, very very happy to see Vegita for once.  
"Kakkarot, I would think defeating this thing would of been child's play, but I guess you aren't as impressive as I would of hoped." said Vegita with a laugh.  
"Ahhh Vegita, so good of you to join our little game." said Coal smiling. He no longer caring that his plan to destroy Bulma had failed.  
"Oh but it is you android who is going to be the pawn in this game." stated Vegita, still just as calm as Coal. A vein in his forehead popped as he started to show everyone what made him feel so calm. The whole area around him started to heat up, and Bulma felt her hair stand on end as the energy that crackled through him was being passed through her as well. Coal was mildly surprised as he watched Vegita crackle with the same energy the other saiyans has portrayed. Then just as soon as Vegita had started to power up, he to became super saiyan-jin 2.  
"Whoah Vegita, when did this happen." said Goku, surprised by the turn of events.  
"Who cares Kakkorat. Lets just destroy this thing." snicked Vegita, as he practically tossed Bulma to the ground. He did this knowing that Mr. Popo was underneath him, which she soon landed right on top of him. Using him as a makeshift pillow.  
  
"This will be interesting." mused Coal, as he landed in the middle of the lookout. He watched as all four fighters landed all around him. They were all about to attack him at once when he motioned for them to stop, and just by the oddness of the request, they did.  
"Before you do anything else there is one more thing I should mention..."  
"And what is that?!" cried Vegita, annoyed by the request to stop.  
"This..." and with that Coal used Cell's body and become a super saiyan.  
"Oh no...I had forgetton about that." said Gohan, realizing that this was a very bad predicament.  
"If he was as strong as us when he was normal....." started Goku.  
"Look out!" interrupted Piccolo as in a lighting fast movement, Goku was slammed against a wall, unconsious. Vegita quickly took action, though soon he himself was hurled to the edge of the lookout, unconsious as well.   
Gohan felt his breath quicken as he watched this all occur, and his head moved from side to side waiting for Coal to attack him. He was answered suddenly when from out of nowhere he was hit well over a hundred times istantly.   
"Gohan!" Piccolo cried running to the aid of Gohan, who was now slumping to the ground. But before he could get there, he was soon hit hard in the stomach sending him reeling and gasping for air.  
"You all should of realized something." Coal said, lifting Piccolo's chin to face him.  
"I am invincible!" he screamed, and violently kicked him, so that he layed unconsious at the edge of the lookout.  
  
Bulma and Mr. Popo stared in horror, as they saw that all four of their friends now lay unconsious around Coal, whom had landed in the middle of the mess.  
"Th..that thing just took them all out. It even took Vegita and Goku out in one blow." whimpered Bulma, panic rising in her voice. She fell to the ground, he legs not seeming to work anymore.  
"This is....this is.... this is...." stuttered Mr. Popo, staring in horror at the scene.  
"This is the end of the world." said Coal with a smirk, finishing Popo's sentence. Bulma and Popo cowered in fear, as Coal started to take menacing steps towards them.  
"And now to finish the job....."   
  
To Be Continued  
  



	2. The Coal Saga: Chapter 2

The Coal Saga: Chapter 2  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
Coal slowly made his way towards the frightened Bulma and Mr. Popo. His intent was to finish the job of killing them as he had tried before.  
"Please...please....please..." Bulma kept saying over and over again, closing her eyes, praying that she wasn't going to die. Though she felt that her time had finally come. Mr. Popo was lost for words, as he cowered right next to her, not knowing what to do. At this time Coal was standing right over them. His hand started to glow as he charged up a ki ball.  
"And now you.....GAK!" Coal sputtered, as he was thrown off balance by a ki ball.  
"Leave...her....alone...." Vegita managed to say as he staggered to where the two were still sitting. As they wondered why they were still alive. Bulma slowly opened her eyes to see what was happening. She questioned why Coal was standing a few feet away from her, not having his eyes set on her anymore. Though when she turned her head, she noticed the beaten Vegita slowly making his way towards her, drawing Coal's attention.  
"Vegita...." she managed to whisper, wondering why him of all people had rescured her.  
"Well Vegita, I guess I didn't hurt you enough last time. Allow me to correct that mistake." Coal said in an evil voice, as he charged up yet another ki blast, this one though was meant to destroy Vegita.  
"Stop!" came a scream behind Coal, as he was yet again slammed into the back, and sent reeling forward a few feet. He turned around suddenly, starting to get angry from these minor annoyances.  
"I won't let you hurt either one of them." stated the also badly beaten Goku.   
"Well it seems I was mistaken when I thought you two were unconsious. Oh well, no matter, now that I know you're all still alive, I'll just have to destroy you all at once." he smirked, as he watched the two saiyans take a defensive position in front of Bulma and Popo.  
"This world....can't...end like this." Goku said to himself, as he thought about the hopelessness of the situation.  
"You give up to easily Kakkorot, and here I would think that you had some new technique to get us out of this mess." smirked Vegita as he looked at Goku. He himself knew that they were doomed, and he had no reason to continue his rivalry with Goku, since they would both be dead soon anyway.  
"I hope you all don't have any regrets, because this time I won't miss." Coal repeated one more time, glimpsing at the fallen Piccolo just to make sure he wouldn't be interrupted again. Bulma and Popo closed their eyes, waiting for the end, while Goku and Vegita prepared to take this blast head on. Though they were surprised when Coal started to power down.  
"Look at you all. You're pathetic. Standing there, waiting for the end to come. Tell you what I'll do. I'd like to have some fun on this planet, and you'll try to stop me. I guess you could call it a game." Coal said with a smirk, not wanting to rule this world quite yet with no rivals.  
"What are you talking about?!" yelled Vegita, hating the fact that he was being called pathetic.  
"Calm down...this might be our only chance." said Goku out of the corner of his mouth, not ever taking his eyes off Coal.  
"You heard me, I will have my fun on earth, and you have to stop me before there is nothing left to save. And I hope you put up a better fight when we meet next. Because if you do plan to fight me again, realize that I won't hesitate to kill you all." and with that and one final laugh, Coal flew off into the air, to a destination that only he knew.  
  
Goku and Vegita suddenly fell on the ground, exhausted. They had both used up all their strength in the fight before and realized that they would of been unable to stop any kind of blast Coal shot. Yet they were willing to defend Popo and Bulma anyway.  
"Vegita, Goku." Bulma whispered, touched that these two were willing to sacrifice their lives for her. Though she was even more impressed that Vegeta, who she thought didn't care if she lived or died, saved her twice that day.  
"I guess we really messed up this time." said Goku, with a hint of levity to his voice. He was so angry at himself for actually letting an enemy go, and turning him on the planet, he almost found the situation funny.  
"Well I hope you find this very funny Kakkarot, because that thing is about to destroy your whole planet." said Vegeta, as he gained enough strength to stand up.  
"Vegita?" came Bulma's voice from behind him.  
"What do you want woman?" growled Vegita coldly.  
"I was just going to ask why you saved me?! You don't have to bite my head off!" screamed Bulma, turning back to her usual self.  
"I couldn't very well let you die!" he yelled back. Goku watched, sorta entranced as he listened to the two scream obvious affection to each other. Though he didn't actually catch the affection part, his mind didn't really comprehend such things, and also his mind were on more important matters.  
"I'm getting tired of this bickering woman, I'm leaving." he stated and prepared to fly away. Though suddenly Bulma latched onto him.  
"Jeez Vegita, you are so dense. And not only that you smell horrible. Have you even bathed once in the past few years." she said holding her nose. He growled, trying to push her off him, not believing what she was doing.  
"And another thing! I can't believe you would leave me and your son behind! Don't you have any shame! Your lucky I'm so forgiving or I would leave you this instant!" she screamed, continuining her hounding on him.  
"Leave me! What foolishness are you talking about!?" he yelled back, the struggle turning very childish. Goku during the whole thing had gone to check on Popo, and has picked up the unconsious Piccolo, not understanding, or even caring about their argument at this point.  
  
"That it I'm leaving!" he yelled, not wanting this fight anymore. He tried to push her away for real finally, and succeeded since he was now getting serious. And with another word, he started to fly away into the sky.  
"Vegita! Why you! I hate you so much!" she screamed, and oddly enough this caused Vegita to stop, turn around, and land back down next to her.  
"Argh, fine wom....I mean Bulma, lets just go." he grumbled, not believing that he was sucumbing to such a thing. Her emotions went from rage to ultra cute, as she took that moment to hop in his arms like a newly wed. He just muttered something, and the two flew off. The only thing that were running through each other's minds was why the other was acting so strangely.  
  
"Are you going to be ok?" Goku asked Popo, as he walked over to frightened man.  
"I think, I just...I just need some rest." Popo stuttered, standing up shakily as he was still in shock about all that had just happened.  
"Good, because I have training to do." Goku said with determination in his eyes. Hating that he had to retreat. Popo watched as Goku flew away, holding the unconsious Piccolo in his arms.  
  
"Darnit!" screamed Sapphire, as she slammed her fist into the ground, causing a small crater to appear where she made contact.  
"Goku did all that he could. He just wasn't strong enough. Don't beat yourself up for this Saphy." said Trunx solemnly. The moment that Goku had arrived bearing the terrible new, both Sapphire and Jade had taken it pretty badly.  
"Did he really! Goku is the strongest fight in the universe! I can't believe that he lost, he must of let Coal win. They must be working together or...or...something!" she screamed again, sinking to a level of insantity, as tears started falling from her face.  
"Saphy! Get a hold of yourself!" Trunx yelled, shaking her.  
"Do you really think Goku, one of the most righteous men we have ever met, would ever be in cahoots with such a vile creature?"  
"Your right....I...I don't know what got into me. I just...I just can't believe that Goku lost..." she lamented, hanging her head, feeling defeated in every way possible.  
"Its ok Saphy. Just come back inside. You should talk to her mother, she seems to be taking this awfully hard." he said, putting his arm around her shoulder, and slowly leading her back into the house.  
The atomsphere inside Capsule Corps was that of being very sad. Goku for once didn't know what to do. Bulma and Vegita had dissapeared somewhere, leaving Trunx and her parents feeling that she had abandoned them. The knowledge that Cell had been taken over by some evil creature was taking its toll on his wife and daughter. Jade had locked herself in her room, and nobody had the guts to talk to her, since all they heard was weeping when they went to the door.  
"I'm going to talk to my mom." Sapphire said, breaking the air of silence that had taken over the living room. Eveyone looked up to her, encouraged by her outburst, but the true hopelessness of the situation settling back in soon after.  
  
Sapphire knocked on the door to her mother's room. And when she heard no response, she slowly opened the door, seeing her mother hugging her knees to her chest, staring a family picture next to her.  
"Mommy?" Sapphire asked softly as she closed the door behind her.  
"He's not ever coming back is he....?" she mumbled, seeing her daughter approach her.  
"Of course he is mom. You just wait, I'm sure Goku will think of something. He always does." she said reassuringly, trying to fake a smile as she sat down next to her mother.  
"Like he did last time?!" she yelled, feeling almost hatred towards Goku for not doing anything to save her husband. Now it was Jade's turn to get rattled by her daughter.  
"Mom! C'mon! Pull yourself together! Do you really have such little faith in us! Goku will think of something, and if he can't do it...then I will do something!" she yelled, full of determination now, as she banished her fear and sadness away.  
"Sapphy...." she whispered, impressed of the superiority in strength her daughter had over herself. Sapphire leaned up and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.  
"Don't you worry mom. I won't let daddy go that easily. And I promise that I will bring him back somehow." she said with a wink, as she stepped back from her mother. Jade sat there staring at her, still shocked at her daughter's actions.  
"I believe you." Jade whispered, as she watched her daughter leave the room. Her eyes shifting towards their wedding photo on her bereau with determination.  
"I know you will bring him back...."  
  
"All right people I have a plan of action." said Sapphire, the sound of pure determination in her voice. So much so that she got the attention of eveyone in the room, even Goku.  
"What is it?" Gohan immediately said, not believing that he was relying on a ten year old for the solution of a threat to all humanity.  
"We fight." she simply stated. Her words seemed to surprise everyone in the room except for Goku.  
"But Coal is....Coal is....Coal is so powerful." stuttered Krillin, knowing that anyone who could take Goku out with one blow was powerful beyond belief.  
"She's right Krillin. We have to do it....its the only way." 18 said as she looked down at her husband. In her arms she cradled the one year old Marron. As Krillin gazed at his daughter, having only been born a short while ago, he realized that he had to fight to protect his family.  
"I guess we have no choice." he said looking back at the group. Goku suddenly looked up as if he just had a light bulb go off in his head.  
"What about the hyberbolic time chamber? We could use that!" Goku said excitedly, knowing how much it had helped him in the past.  
"But didn't you say that you could only spend two years in there?" stated Dr. Brief, finally speaking up. This immediately caused Goku to curse himself once again, knowing that he had already used up all his time.  
"But I haven't spent that much time in there." stated Gohan.  
"Me neither." added Goten.  
"Or me." spurted Trunx.  
"I haven't either Goku. This means that we have a chance to defeat Coal." said Sapphire, her determination turning to hope, as a plan was being formed.  
"I would say I could go in to. But I don't think I could survive it." said Krillin solemnly.  
Suddenly they all heard a knock on the door. Shaking his head Gohan walked to the door to open it. On the other side was Tien and Yamcha.  
"We heard what happened, and wanted to know if we could help." Yamcha stated, stepping in the house.  
"We could both sense the pain that was about to be inflicted on this world. So we both inadvertantly ended up here. I guess you could say we were drawn to it" added Tien, walking in behind Yamcha.  
"Well we can use all the help we can get." stated Gohan.  
"He's already taken out Piccolo. We do need all the help we can get." agreed Goku, a sound of remorse in his voice.  
Suddenly the tv turned on.  
"This just in. A creature from unknown origins has descended upon the earth, and is causing chaos throughout the world. It has already destroyed three cities, and all of their neighboring town. The few surivivors that were interviewed said that the creature was laughing hysterically during the carnage. As if it was doing it out of enjoyment. All I can say is, heaven help us all." came the annoucer's voice from the tv.   
Everyone was captivated at the horrible pictures that were displayed on the television screen. Pictures of the creature they had just let escape causing immeasurable damage, as well as destroying many innocent lives.  
"Not only do we have to defeat this thing, we must do it quickly." Sapphire said as she watched the screeen.  
"Or else we don't have a future to look forward to...."  
  
To be Continued.  
  
  



	3. The Coal Saga: Chapter 3

The Coal Saga: Chapter 3  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
Frieza slowly awakened from his dreamless sleep, and lifted his head to see his surroundings.  
"Where am I?" were the only words that could cross his mind as he gazed around the medical room he had been placed in. After a short look around, his gaze finally fell on the Namek lying on the table next to him.  
"The Namek? Piccolo? What is he doing here?" he said out loud, though at that very moment Piccolo started to wake up as well.  
"Coal?!" he shouted as he sprung up quickly, seemingly reliving the battle in his mind.  
"Where is he?! I'll destroy him!?"  
"You won't be destroying anyone in your condition." came a voice from across the room. Both aliens turned their gaze to see Dr. Brief walking into the room.  
"Mr. Brief? What's going on? What happened?" repeatedly asked Frieza, not knowing of anything that had happened since his encounter with Coal.  
"The last thing I remember was Coal slowly blasting people, then he aimed at Sapphire, and I...." he started until he held his head like it hurt.  
"Try not to think so hard. You need to rest now. I have you eat a senzu bean, though they don't seem to work very well on your species." Brief faintly muttered, as he seemed preoccupied with typing something on the computer.  
"Oh yeah by the way, I think you two should go see Goku. He'll tell you about his plan of actions. And even though you two may not be enough, he needs all the help he can get." he continued while glancing at them, though immediately after he went right back to typing. They glanced at each other, then jumped off their medical bed, ready to fight Coal.  
  
Each had been in a daze since they had been resurrected from near death, and the only thing both were able to do was to fill out their last command, find Goku. Though after a long search throughout the house they finally found him training extremely hard outside the building. They watched in awe for a second as Goku gave it his all in his training. Like he was fighting Coal right then and there. The truth of the matter was he was punishing himself for losing. And for letting Cell's family down.  
"Goku! Get down here! We need to talk about Coal!" yelled Piccolo, as he was eager to get back into the fight. After a few repeated cries, Goku finally came out of his training state of mind, and landed in front of them with a loud landing. Both Frieza and Piccolo stepped back a step when they saw the look of pure determination on the saiyan's face.  
"Goku! What happened! Where's Coal!?" screamed Piccolo.  
"Gone....he's gone...."  
"What do you mean he's gone?!" yelled Frieza.  
"I couldn't beat him, now he's off somewhere on earth, doing God knows what." Goku said looking down. Both Frieza and Piccolo got an idea about how strong Coal was just by the way Goku's muscles tightened as he racalled the battle in his mind.  
"What are we going to do?" Frieza asked.  
"Train."   
"What? How can we train when that things tearing up the earth!" Piccolo yelled, utterly furious over the whole incident.  
"There is nothing we can do until we get stronger. We will train for one day, and one day only. Any more then that and Coal will destroy more then half the world's population. Trunx and Goten are in the hyperbolic time chamber as we speak." Goku said solemnly.  
"One day?! How can we all train in the chamber in one day?!" asked Frieza, utterly confused by these course of actions.  
"We don't. After Goten and Trunx get out of there, the only ones who have the ability to go back in will. And that leaves Sapphire, and you Piccolo." Goku said, knowing that Piccolo wasn't going to like that idea.  
"The kid! No way! I'll go alone..."  
"No! We only have a day. You have to!" Goku yelled, showing a level of anger that he usually never portrayed. That very anger was enough for Piccolo to go silent, and to question Goku's logic no more.  
"And what about me Goku?" asked Frieza.  
"You...you stay here where its safe. Don't take it the wrong way, but you would only get hurt if you were to attack him head on. You, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien will protect our families." Goku said with a stern voice.  
"But....ok...." he replied, knowing that what Goku said was the truth.  
  
Suddenly Gohan walked out of Capsule corps.   
"Mr. Piccolo, Goten and Trunx are almost done. You should all head off to Kami....I mean Popo's place. Sapphire will meet you there." Gohan said, as he flew in that exact direction. Even though both Goku and Frieza would not be able to enter the chamber they followed after Piccolo anyways.  
After the short flight there, they noticed Sapphire doing simple training moves outside. The remnants of the previous battle there could still be seen, as trees and pieces of the ground were all destroyed. All destroyed by their fight with Coal.  
"Hey you guys! Down here!" Sapphire cried, as she pointed to the spot where she was standing. The four fighters quickly landed near where she had designated. Sapphire took that moment to push past them and walk up to Frieza.  
"Frieza? I know this might sound weird coming from me. But....thanx." she said with a grin, grabbing onto his hand. And in the instant that she did that, Frieza suddenly remembered what had happened before.  
"Don't mention it....kid." he said with a smirk. She gave him one last look of approval before turning to Piccolo.  
"C'mon green man, we got some training to do." Sapphire said in a seemingly happy tone as she elbowed Piccolo in the stomach, walking past him towards the sanctuary. Piccolo clenched his teeth feeling embarrased that she had called him green man, though even more embarrased that when she had elbowed him, it hurt.  
"Yeah, whatever kid." he said following her.  
  
At that moment Mr. Popo walked out of the sanctuary.  
"They're finished." he simply stated, as a powerful presence could be felt coming out of the sanctuary. Soon after out stepped Goten and Trunx, both having reached Super Saiyan-jin 2. Their hair was the usual golden color yet very defined, also they had a confident air around them as they slowly made their way towards Goku and Frieza. Goku eyes gleamed a bit as he looked down at the two boys, feeling a sense of awe by the level of power they had gained in such a short time.  
Goku was silent as he watched to two take their places in front of him. A small smile curved his lips as for the first time he was starting to have a bit of confidence that they could maybe win this thing.   
Suddenly all four of them turned their heads to the sky as they felt another powerful presence approaching. And in the distance they could slowly see a figure approaching quickly. Trunx squinted to see who it was, and got very excited when he realized the answer.  
"It my Mom and Dad! They've come back!" he cried happily.   
"Vegita?" Goku could only wonder, as he saw Vegita land on the ground, letting Bulma out of his embrace. For that moment Trunx could not control himself, and ran straight at his mother hugging her.  
"Mom! Dad! Where were you guys?!" he asked, almost wanting to cry, fearing that they had left forever.  
"We had some...adult things to discuss." she said simply, glancing at Vegita who just turned away. She held her son tightly, not caring that the sheer energy he was eminating was causing her hair to stand on end.  
"I don't have time for this." he simply stated as he tried to ignore his son. Goku and Goten took that moment to walk over to the small family reunion.  
"So Kakkarot, I see that you have a small plan building to defeat Coal. Do you really think its going to work?" he asked in more insulting tone, then curious.  
"I don't know, I really don't. Even with out combined power it may not be enough."   
"But it doesn't mean we can't try." interrupted Gohan happily as he rushed over to the group.  
"You're are fools to really have that much confidence. The only way we'll win this if there is a miracle. So in other words stay out of my way, and pray that I win." Vegita said with an angry tone.  
"What's your problem? The only way we're going to win this is if we work together." Goten said pointetly. Vegita tried to say something in return but couldn't think of something so stayed silent. Throughout this whole conversation Bulma was actually silent for once. As she gazed at five Super Saiyan-jin 2 warriors, she was amazed that even with all the power they had, they were very doubtful they even had a chance against Coal.  
  
Meanwhile, both Piccolo and Sapphire had entered the time chamber, and they both were determined to spend the six months they had in there wisely.  
"Is that the....best you can do!" cried Sapphire as she was being onslaughted by four Piccolo's, all attacking her at once. She ducked, dodged, and blocked as the barrage attacked her, though she never let one attack get through her defenses. The Piccolo's around her were visibly starting to get angry.  
"Try this! Special Beam Cannon!" came Piccolo's attack cry, as Sapphire was assaulted by 4 beams of energy. Her eyes shifted from one to the other as she calculated her next movement. In a flash she round-hous kicked two of them away, flipped backwards, and with her back turned to the other two, reflected them away with her hands. She had a confidnet look of determination as she stood there, the four beams having caused explosions all around her. Her super saiyan hair sparkled a little, getting closer and closer to allowing her to ascend.  
"C'mon green dude, lets see what you got!"  
"Argh stop calling me that!" Piccolo cried in frustration as he reformed into one creature, and sent to long extending arms flyings at her. She took that moment to spreads her wings and dodge both of them, and make a b-line straight for Piccolo. And since for that brief period his arms were not of use to him, he closed his eyes waiting for the impact, but it never came.  
Standing right in front of him was Sapphire, tapping his nose.  
"Ya know for a guy who talks so big, you seem to lose to a little girl a lot." she said with a playful smile. Piccolo looked as if he was going to scream at her, though his anger fizzled out and he just smirked.  
"We'll see tomorrow kid. Why don't we get some sleep, we've been at it for at least thirty hours now." he said as he turned to walk back to the bedroom part of the chamber. She nodded and quickly followed him, knowing that she was slowly starting to gain his respect, and friendship. Just as Gohan had been able to to do before her. Her mind was full of thoughts of training to become stronger, and gaining enough power to defeat that one who had stolen her father away from her.  
  
Elsewhere in the world though, things were quite as bright.  
"Karen....will you marry me?" Steve asked as he kneeled down in front of the woman he loved, holding out the ring. Her eyes filled with tears of joy and happiness..  
"Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" she cried as she pulled her now fiancee into her loving embrace.  
A few feet away though, lizard like eyes watched the happy couple.  
"Ahh yes perfect. It was a good idea to convert my body back to that of Cell' first form. More people fear this form." Coal mused to himself in a raspy voice as he glanced down at his locust like body, his tail slowly moving back in forth in anticipation.  
As Karen and Steve settled back down to their romantic dinner they heard a rumbling in the bushes next to them. Steve, trying to impress his fiancee walked over the bush to investigate. When suddenly Coal popped out, ramming his stinger into the helpless man. Karen screamed as she watched her beloved being sucked away, leaving nothing but his clothing.  
"AHHHHHHHHH!" she just managed to cry as she attempted to run away, fearing for her life. Though she didnt' get far, when she to felt the stinger ram into her back. And soon, she also was nothing but a mere pile of clothes.  
The rest of the restaurent was slightly stirred by the commotion and screaming they heard. Though before any real investigation could be done, Coal crashed through a wall, his eyes shifting around the room as he was prepared to have a dinner of his own. This immediately caused the whole place to erupt with panic as people tried desperately to get out.  
"Why do you run! Do you not wish to become part of the ultimate power in the universe?" asked Coal to no one as he quickly dashed into the crowd. One last scream could be heard, as a last pile of clothing fluttered to the ground. In only a few mintues the once lively restaurent was now nothing more then place of empty tables and piles of fine dresses and suits.  
Coal licked his lips as he gazed out into the city.  
"I can't believe how enjoyable it is to enact fear into the hearts of these pathetic beings. Goku, wait till you find out that not only am I more powerful then you, but I've also become even more powerful by sucking up the very people you have tried to protect."  
Coal slowly made his way into the city, to finish off what he had started out to do. The news reporters would say that no trace was left of this city's people, other then the clothing of those who perished. The very few survivors said that that fateful day was nothing but screams and utter carnage. The only description of the creature that was recalled was that it looked exactly as the one that attacked quite a few years ago. Though as that one was described as green in color, this was was a darker color. Such as the color of Coal, or even, the color of death....  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
  
  



	4. The Coal Saga: Chapter 4

The Coal Saga: Chapter 4  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
A woman and a little girl ran through the streets of their home city, fearing for their lives as a creature that was unknown to them attempted to chase them down.  
"Why do you run! It only makes it more fun for me!" yelled Coal in insanity as he was letting the two start to pull away from him, as to make them think they may be safe. After a short while, when they had lost sight of the creature the woman picked her crying daughter up, trying to calm her. As she patted her on the back she gazed around the empty streets of her town. Her family, friends, as well as everyone she once knew were gone, destroyed by this creature. She made quiet sounds of reassurence, trying to convince her daughter that everything was going to be alright, but she herself knew that not to be true.  
Her eyes shifted suddenly as she saw a shadow move by her. Her body was visibly shaking, as she began to pat her daughter's back more rapidly, to the point where it was hurting. And the moment the girl cried out in pain that was the moment that Coal chose to strike the two helpless civilians. In a quick instant the monster was running at full speed at them, his cold stare was met with a look of horror as he prepared to devour them to.   
The woman screamed as everything for a moment went dark for her. Though when she opened her eyes she was still alive and standing there. Though there was a man standing in front of her. He wore a orange fighting gi with a blue shirt under it. This man was Goku.  
"Are you alright?" he asked without turning around, keeping his eyes on the slowly arising Coal at all times. She breathed a yes, and quickly started to run away, not wanting to have to face that creature again.  
Little by little Sapphire, Piccolo, Gohan, Goten, Vegita, and Trunx landed on the scene to do battle with this horrible beast. Though after a few moments two more arrivals landed with them, and these two were unexpected.  
"Is that him?" asked Jade as she walked over next to Goku.  
"Its hidious!" exclaimed Bulma as she watched Coal give them all a death glare for ruining his fun. In the back of both of the women's minds was the realization that this is the way the Cell they knew first looked when he was able to make conscience thought. Now though they would never allow themselves to admit such a thing, for to them, this creature was their enemy.  
  
"Well it seems the party's all here. I hope you're ready Goku, because this time I will have no mercy, therefore have no problem destroying you on the spot." Coal said with a menacing growl. This did not seem to have the desired effect that he wanted, as it only enraged the daughter of Cell.  
"Let my father go!" screamed Sapphire, as she charged at him with a surge of emotion. Her hair immediatly powering up to Super Saiyan-jin 2.  
"Sapphire!" screamed Jade, as she watched her only daughter fly straight at the monster, bloodlust in her eyes.  
"Hm hm hm hm." evily laughed the tyrant as the determination that Sapphire put out was immedietely crushed as he easily caughter her outstretched fist. The girl slowly opened her eyes to see the face of her enemy was no longer that of a beast, but of the exact likeness of her father. He had reverted back to his perfect form. Without a word, Coal simply tossed her back in the crowd.  
"Quite a temper you have little girl. But I would expect no less from the offspring of Cell." he mused, as his eyes played over the group again, watching as they stared at him in horror.  
"So are you scared now? Do fear that you will die this day? Do you fear that I will destroy this world that you have worked so hard to protect?" asked Coal rhetorically, his attention placed on Goku. Goku on the otherhand was speechless, he had no idea what to do, or how to beat him. He only had one day of practice since his last battle with Coal, and knew that it would never be enough.  
"You.....you monster! I hate you! I hate you!!" Jade screamed as she glared menacingly at him, looking away from treating her fallen daughter for a moment.  
"Oh, just harsh words from such a pretty lady. To bad that you have nothing to backup such things. Anyway I'm getting tired of this talking. So how bought we just go ahead and decide the fate of the world now ok?" Coal almost said playfully. This seemed to make Goku get a thoughtful look.  
"We'll fight you under one conditon...."  
"That we do it in a deserted area? You should know Goku that part of you is in Cell, and now Cell is part of me. Therefore I know everything you are thinking, and are going to do. And in light of this, I will comply with you proposition. Since I know how helpless you are." Coal stated, and in a burst of energy flew off into the sky, leaving the Z-warriors with a stunned look.  
"Well c'mon!" screamed Jade with a level of initiative that she had never known herself. And in an instant she flew after Coal in hot pursuit.  
"You heard the woman! Stop staring and lets move it Kakkarot!" Vegita said, and instantly flew after her, followed by Trunx, Goten, and Gohan. Piccolo, still standing there, gazed at the almost frightened looking Goku.  
"He's can't be invincible Goku. He has a weakness, we just need to find it."  
"I just...I just don't know...."  
"Hey you guys! They are getting away! So one of you better pick me up and follow them!" screamed Bulma, cutting in.  
"Your right, this is no time for fear. Lets go." he stated and picked up Bulma, and with Piccolo behind him, followed after the group.  
  
After a short flight the group landed in what looked like a desert. Rocky cliffs surrounded them on all sides, as if saying that no one could escape the battle they were about to enter. Every fighter stood in a makeshift circle around Coal. He, in utter confidence stood in the middle with his arms crossed.  
"C'mon! I'll take you all on at once!" he yelled and Coal's hair turned immediately into that of a Super Saiyan. Everyone around him instantly stood in a fighting stance, ready to fight him with full force.  
"Stand back mom this could get ugly." said Sapphire demandingly, gesturing with her hand for her mother to move back.  
"You to." added Trunx, motioning a hand as well. The two women obeyed their children, seeing the look of determination in their eyes. Everyone after that turned their full attention on Coal.  
"You wanted a fight Coal! Your going to get it!" screamed Sapphire at the top of her lungs, and with a flare of power the daughter of Cell sprinted straight at the creature she detested.  
  
Coal laughed and prepared to take the pint sized fighter on full force. Though he was momentarily distracted as Trunx flew from an opposite side for an attack. With a quick movement he blocked both fighters.  
"Nice try! But try again!"  
They answered this as Piccolo, Goku, Goten, and Gohan attacked simultaneously, flying full force at Coal. Coal meanwhile charged up two Ki blasts in both hands ready to take them all out at once. Though the moment they would make contact, all four flew straight up in the air, while Trunx and Sapphire appeared out of nowhere to hit him simultaneously in the back and stomach. In a surge of anger Coal violently hit the two away, flying straight up to where the other fighters were floating, where they had been watching their small plan in action. Though they didn't expect to flare Coal's anger so, and didn't expect him to come chasing after them.  
"How dare you lay a finger on me!" he screamed in utter outrage, as he charged at Goku in particular. Goku smirked as he realized that Coal did have a weakness after all, he let his anger get the best of him. Coal made a wild punch at Goku, and missed entirely, and with the moment of opportunity Coal was kneed in the stomach, and a double-fisted slam was connected that sent him rocketing towards the ground.  
"Yeah all right!" said Gohan happily, realized that maybe this wasn't hopeless. Though the moment before Coal made impact with the ground he stopped himself, and floated to a standing position.  
"Do you think that display of luck would take me down! I think not!" he said laughing maniacally and flew straight at the four again.  
"Gohan watch out!" yelled Piccolo, seeing Coal heading straight for him. Though before Coal hit him, Goten interluded and knocked him off his balance. This attack was immediately followed by two consecutive kicks coming from Sapphire and Trunx as they flew by him, connecting on his stomach and face. And to finish off the attack, Piccolo and Goku charged at him to attempt to slam him down to the ground again. Though there attack never connected.  
"You SCUM!" he screamed outraged, as he suddenly burst back to life, grabbing both Goku and Piccolo by the heads and slamming them together. In the next instant he swept his arm behind him catching both Gohan and Goten in the faces, causing to fall to the ground. His gaze immediately turned to Trunx and Sapphire as they, refusing to let what they just saw scare them, charged at him.  
"So won't give up eh?! Thats the way to fight!!" he laughed maniacally as he charged straight at them as well. The three collided, and when the smoke from the clash of energy subsided, Trunx and Sapphire were both heading towards the ground, joining the rest of their friends. Coal looked down seeing everyone that had attacked him were now face down on the ground, but as he began to count them in his head he realized that one was missing.  
"Here I am!" yelled Vegita from behind him and hit him hard in the back of the head. This though only caused Coal to get mad, and in a swift movement grabbed Vegita, and made him join the others in the dirt. After a short pause to make sure he had beaten everyone, Coal slowly flew down to the ground, watching as everyone slowly got to their feet. All feeing a bit woozy from what they just had experienced. Coal on the otherhand was having the time of his life, only wanting them all to try it again.  
  
Bulma watched the scene in horror, starting to realize maybe Goku was right when he had protested against her and Jade coming at all. But he was unable to win since Bulma insisted that she hold onto the senzu beans in case Coal tried to take them away from one of the fighters.  
"Besides, many people I care about will be there." she had said to him. And thus he had been unable to refuse. Jade on the other hand didn't even ask to go. She demanded that she attend, not fearing for her own life anymore. And as Bulma turned to look at her, she realized how true that was.  
Jade was not afraid at all. Her whole body shivered in anticipation as she watched her friends and daughter being viciously beaten on by this monster. She tightened her fists as she almost wanted to get and there and make him pay. But in her mind the part of her that was against all forms of fighting would not allow her to act. Therefore she stood there, animated by her anticipation.  
  
Meanwhile Coal watched as the group of fighters congragated in one area, seemingly ready to try again to defeat him.  
"What now! Are you all going to charge at me at once or something?" he asked playfully. Though his playful atmosphere dissapeard as he watched Goten, Goku, Gohan, and Sapphire take a familiar stance to him. As well Trunx and Vegita had flown into the air, also taking a stance known to him. Finally Piccolo stood on the ground as well, holding two fingers against his forehead in concentration.  
"Hm." Coal simply stated as he watched the fire in everyone's eyes, as a huge amount of energy was being generated, all directed at him. The power generated slowly grew, as the stationary Coal looked as if he had no plan to dodge at all.  
"KAAAA-MEEEE-HAAAA..." started Goten, Goku, Gohan, and Sapphire in unison. All four standing side by side, their hands by their sides preparing the blast.  
"FINAL...." started Vegita and Trunx, their body's outstretched to form two X's in the sky.  
"SPECIAL BEAM...." also started Piccolo, his fingers still on his forehead.  
  
"MEEEE-HAAAAA!!!"  
"FLASH!!!"  
"CANNON!!!"  
  
Bulma and Jade covered their eyes as a blast big enough to destroy an entire galaxy hurtled at Coal. So powerful, that if anyone were to touch it, they would be instantly vaporized. Everyone closed their eyes as a giant explosion occured. The enertia was so great that it was causing Bulma to be thrown off her center of gravity, only not flying away because of Jade holding on to her.  
Everyone watched the place where Coal had been standing in hopes that their attack had at least weakened Coal. But as they almost all knew, Coal stood there, completely unharmed. His hair had shifted to that of a Super Saiyan-jin 2. A cold smile curled his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest, his aura flaring a bit, as he could feel his superiority.  
  
Goku almost fels himself slump to the ground, as he, his sons, and Sapphire stood there, still in their Kamehameha poses. Not believing that all that power had not been enough to even scratch him. Trunx and Vegita also landed on the ground, both silent.  
Near them, Jade started to breath very heavily as she could feel her anger starting to well up inside of her. She gripped her fists so tights, a small trickle of purple blood fell down her hand, as her own nails pierced her skin.  
"He's to powerful....." she muttered to herself.  
"He's to powerful with Cell....Wait....Thats it!"  
"Goku! You have to seperate him and Cell! Thats the only way!" she screamed suddenly to Goku.  
"But how!?" he yelled back.  
"I...I don't know..." she whimpered in anger and confusion.  
"I don't know..."  
Suddenly they all felt a massive power eminating out of one of them. Everyone eyes searched frantically to see who was causing it, and their eyes rested on Sapphire. She was vibrating with energy, just as her mother was a few moments before. Though unlike her, she was also crackling with energy.  
"I know how we'll do it...." she started slowly, as she began to step forward.  
"I'll seperate them even if I have to rip them apart!" she screamed as her aura flared menacingly, as her steps started bringing her to the direction of Coal.  
  
To Be Continued  
  
  
  
  



	5. The Coal Saga: Chapter 5

The Coal Saga: Chapter 5  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
Coal watched in mild surprise as Sapphire slowly made her way to him. The fact that a strange aura had surrounded her did not surprise him, or cause him to have any fear in the least. Though the only thing that did catch his attention was the fire that he could see pulsating from her eyes, giving her the look of complete determination.  
"So does the little girl wanna play?" he asked in a cute voice, mocking her.  
"Your going down Coal. My father is strong. He'll be able to survive me ripping you apart." she replied in a low, almost evil sounding voice.  
  
Everyone standing in the group behind her watched in awe. The only two who seemed animated at all were her mother and Trunx.  
"I have to help her!" yelled Trunx as he struggled against Goten's grasp.  
"You know as well as I do that you have no chance against Coal. Let her go and see if she's all talk or if she really does have the power to defeat him." Goten reassured him, letting his arms rest as Trunx stopped fighting.  
"Don't worry Trunx..." started Jade as she walked over to him.  
"Remember that Sapphire has Cell's genes in her. And if anyone can fight that..that thing. It will be her, and her alone." she continued, placing a hand on Trunx's shoulder. He realized that she was correct, and the best thing to do now was wait, and pray.   
  
Sapphire took a fighting stance in front of Coal.  
"So lets see what your really made up Coal." she muttered, her voice full of utter confidence.  
"Your pretty confident for a little brat."  
"Heh....you know it."  
"Well lets see if you have the strength to back up that talk." was the last thing that was uttered before Sapphire immediately charged at Coal, beating the unprepared tyrant many times in the head with her fist. He quickly got his bearings set though, and started to immediately block her approaching fists. Though he found that he was unable to block many of them.  
"You little brat!" he screamed, taking a wild punch at her, completely missing her.  
"Goku was right about you. You do have a nasty temper." she said smirking, as she gave him a punch that sent him reeling a couple of feet back.  
"I'll show you a temper!" he screamed charging at her. This burst of energy caught her off gaurd and it was now her turn to go reeling back a bit. He immediately connected with a kick that knocked her to the ground. Afterwards he stood over her, looking down at the fallen girl.  
"So do you give up shorty?" he asked with a laugh. She slowly looked up at him.  
"Don't call me shorty....." she muttered, and in a sudden uppercut sent him flying into the air. She immediately connected with Goku's original plan to double fist slam him back to the earth. Though this time is actually worked, and Coal was soon face down in the dirt.  
  
"Why you little insect! I'm tired of playing these stupid games. I let you have your fun because I thought you were totally powerless. But I guess I'll actually have to teach you a lesson now!" he screamed as he dug his nails into the dirt. After he let his rage subside he quickly took a fighting stance, his gaze meeting with that of Sapphire's, whom was still flying around him at that very moment.  
"Well I'm waiting. Why don't come and get me?" she said mockingly.  
"Oh I will....." and with that he made a b-line straight for her. The speed he was showing surpassed all that he had shown before, and Sapphire soon realized that she was on the reaceiving end of many punches and kicks. After a few seconds of this she immediately started fighting back, and the fight slowly sank to the level of where they would just start seeing who could punch harder. Sapphire would hit Coal, and then Coal would hit back. For a short while this went on until both seemed pretty tired. Then suddenly Coal grabbed Sapphire by the head and slammed it into his knee. The tired girl fell to the ground hard.  
  
"Sapphire!" Trunx yelled, trying to run to her. But once again he was held back by Goten.  
"Don't! You'll just get yourself killed. And how will that help Sapphire!?" Goten yelled, having trouble restraining his friend.  
"Dont' worry Trunx. She's not done yet." said Goku as he turned his head back to the fight. His eyes burned with determination as he watched Sapphire slowly get up.  
"C'mon Sapphire! You can beat him!" Goku yelled over, trying to encourage the girl.  
  
Sapphire glanced over at Goku with a smirk.  
"Thanks Goku. But trust me, I don't need any encouragement. I'm going to kill this thing and we can go home." she said confidently, as her eyes locked onto Coal. Watching as his form lowered to the ground in front of crater she had made when she landed.  
"At least you have some fight left in you." he said with a smirk.  
"More then you know." she added in with a smirk of her own. Coal's confident look was slowly taken away as she violently charged at him, hitting him with her whole body. He stepped back a little, feeling the wind been knocked out of him. He fell down to his knees clutching his stomach. He looked badly beaten and it seemed that maybe the fight had just taken a major turning point.  
"How...how can I be losing to a brat like this!" he screamed in anger and pain, as his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. Sapphire, realizing that she had finally had gained the upper hand, walked over to him to finish the job.  
"I guess that just goes to show you....."  
"FOOL!!" he screamed as he quickly stood up, grabbing her by the head and slamming her into the ground. When he picked her back up to show everyone, she was unconscience. A gasp could be heard as they all watched the scene unfold.  
  
"He was...he was bluffing!" cried Vegeta, not believing what had happened.  
"Thats impossible. Her power was so great how could he of not been injured by it!" Goku added, staring in horror at the scene.  
"Sapphire!!!" Jade screamed, as she watched the overconfident Coal starting to squeeze her head like a melon. Trunx, who had been watching the seen with tears flowing down his face finally snapped into action.  
"Stop it now!!!" he screamed in utter rage. Goten tried to hold him back, but soon found himself unable to restrain him. As Trunx lunged at Coal, he realized that he was about to use his full force and crush her head. And worst of all, he realized he wouldn't be able to make it...  
"Now you die!!" Coal screamed squeezing as hard as he could. Trunx closed his eyes, not wanting to watch one of his dearest friends die such in such a horrible way.  
  
There was a flash of light, and suddenly Sapphire was gone. Everyone looked to where Coal's hand was, and noticed that she was literally gone. Even Coal had no idea where she had gone. And just like everyone else he searched the area trying to locate her.  
Finally his eyes rested on Sapphire's savior. Standing a short ways away from Coal stood Frieza, his back to him.  
"Frieza?" he asked in utter surprise. Though is curiousity turned to laughter.  
"You actually came here to save that stupid girl?! Frieza the tyrant of the galaxy?! And also Frieza the incredible weakling?! I don't even know why you bothered saving her. After I defeat you, I'll kill her right after. And I know I won't have any trouble defeating a weakling like you!" he yelled in between laughs, mocking Frieza. Though the white lizard seem unfazed.  
"Shut up..." he muttered.  
"What?" Coal asked, getting serious again.  
"I said, shut your stupid mouth." he continued, turning around to face him.  
"Hmmm. Pretty confident aren't we. I wonder what makes you so confident? Wait, now that I look at you something's different isn't there." Coal stated, looking Frieza over. What Coal was talking about was the simple fact that the purple spots on Frieza's head, stomach, legs, and feet were no longer purple anymore. But now they were in fact black.  
"Yes....I spent all night and half of today training just to fight you Coal. A year and a half all alone, with only my hate for creatures like you driving me on. And through that training I reached a new level so to speak." he muttered in an evil voice, still holding onto Sapphire.  
"Your hate for me? I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be my ally. Frieza, the greatest evil in the universe. Frieza, the unbeatable. Frieza, the...."  
"Can it. I'm different now. I don't want that life anymore. I like it here, on earth. And I won't let you, or anyone else destroy it." he interrupted. At that very moment a extremely happy Trunx ran over.  
"Here kid. Take Sapphy to safety." Frieza said calmly, handing her over to Trunx.  
"Frieza? You don't stand a chance agianst him." he said quietly as he took Sapphire into his own arms.  
"Yes, I know. Even at my new power level, I stand no chance. But maybe I can get him to talk a bit about himself. Now get out of here." Frieza said, keeping his cool. Trunx complied and carried the fallen Sapphire over to the others, where Jade immediately began tending to her.  
  
"So Coal. Are you just going to stand there or are we going to fight?"   
"You seem awfully confident. But remember that Sapphire was just as confident as you, and look at her now." Coal replied, unamused but yet another person who thought they could beat him.  
"Well I would like to know where you get such awesome power. Where do you come from anyway?" Frieza asked, still trying to keep his cool.  
"Ahhh, so you wanna know about me eh? Well since you'll be dead soon I'll tell you. Its actually a simple story. After you fools destroyed Dr. Gero's lab there wasn't anything left that functioned. But if you had checked even further you would of realized there was another hatch leading further down. In there was the true master computer. Within that computer was Dr. Gero's conscience itself. With the last bit of supplies that were left he created a robotic skeleton. Me. Though the skeleton was only about as strong as one of the androids of past. And Gero needed more materials, but luckily you Frieza arrived on earth, with a fresh mechanical body. The only thing that was needed was to take them from you, which I did easily. Though when I was finished I was still only about as strong as Cell, and I needed to be stronger, much stronger if I were to be assured victory. Therefore my program was changed so that I no longer had a physical body, I guess you could call me a spirit. I was powerless at this point, and the only way I could become whole again was to possess Cell. The only one who I could. Therefore I did. I attacked him while he was sleeping and over a short period of time took over his entire being." Cell stated as he remembered the whole thing like a nice dream.  
"So your really ok just being Dr. Gero's pawn like that?" Frieza asked, trying to make this monster refrain from fighting anymore.  
"Of course not. The first thing I did when I left Kami's place was go back to make sure I destroyed that computer. And now that its gone, I'm free to destroy this world. I'm only following Gero's plan to kill Goku beacuse Goku is the only one who might oppose me." Coal corrected Frieza. Out of ideas, Frieza had no choice but to fight.  
  
"So little lizard, now that you have heard my life story, are you ready to fight?" Coal asked taking a battle stance. Withough any more options, Frieza took a fighting stance of his own.  
"I guess I have no choice." Frieza muttered. The battle immediately started after that. Coal charged at Frieza, knocking him in the head and back very quickly as he flew by. Frieza retorted by wrapping his tail around Coal's leg and kicking him away harshly.  
Coal, seeing that maybe the lizard did have some fight in him, immediately bounced back, hitting Frieza square in the face. After a few dizzy step backwards, Freiza regained his stance and charged at Coal again. The fight quickly turned into the same fight that everyone had seen before. Each fighter would take turns hitting each other as hard as they could. Though since Coal had already been through this, Frieza was gaining the upperhand. Frieza finally realized that he knew how he was going to win this, and he knew that Coal wouldn't be able to stop him. His mind immediately focused on what he had to do.  
"And now...." started Frieza as he slammed him down to the ground with a burst of strength.  
"You DIE!!!" he screamed as he flew straight down at the tyrant to give him the crushing blow.  
  
A gasp could be heard reverberating through the desert as the next few seconds of the fight seemed to play out in slow motion. Frieza's attempt to crush Coal's head failed as Coal had seemed to gain new found strength to roll to the side. And in a sudden instant Coal was now floating over Frieza.  
The white lizard only had a moment to glance up at Coal, as the force of Frieza's punch had pinned him to the ground for a millisecond. And Coal being who he was took that millisecond to finish things off. Freiza's eyes opened wide as he saw a blast heading straight at him. He attempted to fly past it but there was a sudden explosion in mid air, where Frieza and the blast had passed each other.  
Everyone watched in anticipation to see if Frieza was alright, and still able to fight. The only one who seemed to stare in horror was Goku.  
"That...that wasn't a normal blast. That is a attack I've seen Krillin and Frieza use before. Thats was a Ki-Enzen (Destructo Disk)." Goku said in a low tone. Everyone turned to him, wondering why that fact made a difference.  
  
Frieza looked up at Coal wondering why he was laughing hysterically. His fingers were pointed to the right, as if he had directed something. Suddenly his vision of Coal split in two, and Frieza could suddenly rationalize what had just happened.  
  
"Coal used Frieza's own attack on him. When Frieza tried to dodge it.....he only used his mind to have it hit him again. Which means....which means..." Goku started, as he seemed to be having trouble saying the exact words..   
Everyone suddenly realized what Goku was talking about as they watched Frieza split into halves. All of their mouths dropped open, not believing that someone that they all knew was now in two pieces. Even Vegita couldn't believe that Coal had done such a thing. And after what seemed like a brief moment, the halves of the former tyrant fell to the ground. Frieza was dead....  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
  
  



	6. The Coal Saga: Chapter 6

The Coal Saga: Chapter 6  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
Everyone eyes gleamed with hate as they watched Frieza fall to the ground. After they had tried to hard to allow Frieza into their lives, Coal had just snuffed out his life as if it didn't matter at all. Coal could only laugh as he watched their determined faces, knowing that they would be unable to get any retribution for their fallen comrade.  
"So who's next? Does anyone else want to try?" Coal asked, laughing, as his eyes shifted over the remaining Z warriors on the ground. His eye focused in on Goku especially since he seemed to be the one taking Frieza's death the hardest.  
"How bout you Goku? Will you give it another go?"  
"You....you....you....." came a voice that no one could readily indentify. Soon everyone eyes settled on Trunx. His muscles bulging just as they were way back during the last Budokai Tournament.  
"I can never forgive you!!! For what you've done!!! I can never forgive you!!!" Trunx kept repeating as he slowly made his way towards Coal.  
  
"Oh...this again. I'm tired of these power up fights, where someone thinks they can beat me because they found some newfound power. I promise that if I win this fight, I'll swiftly kill the lot of you. I'm getting tired of taking you all out one by one anyway." Coal stated as he landed on the ground in front of Trunx.  
"Now lets see what you got kid."  
Trunx instantly sprang into action. His gold hair pulsating with power as he quickly took the upper hand of the fight, pounding Coal into the dirt. The tyrant soon found that he was anable to return the furious swings that Trunx was throwing. There seemed to be an odd calmness to Trunx as he preceeded with the fight. As if he no longer cared for his own existance, or the continued existance of Cell. All he cared about was that Coal, the one who he loathed would be defeated.   
After only another few seconds of fighting, Coal seemed to be going down. Everytime Coal threw a punch, Trunx seemed to dissapear from view and reapper somewhere else, so that he may give Coal two times what the tyrant had tried to dish out. And after awhile of doing this, Coal was on soon the ground, breathing heavily.  
  
"Get up!" Trunx demanded as he landed a few feet away from him. Coal just growled.  
"You...little brat. I'll destroy you, and your entire family!"he screamed in retribution, though all this caused was Trunx to violently kick him very hard, so that he was sprawled on the ground a short distance away. Then once again Trunx walked over to him. His hand began to slowly glow as he was preparing to crush Coal's head. With that part of him gone, Coal would be unable to regenerate, and would surely die.  
  
Jade, who had been spending most of her time caring for her child finally looked up to the fight when she noticed that everyone else had been saying small words of confidence. She knew what they meant when she noticed a very determined looking Trunx walking over to the fallen Coal. Though when she noticed his glowing hand she realized that he was going to kill him.  
She immediately sprang to her feet.  
"Trunx stop! Don't kill him!" she cried, a few tears rolling from her eyes. Though even with her passionate words, they did not seem to reach the boy.  
"Trunx! If you don't stop right now your going to kill Sapphire's father!" she screamed again, trying to strike a nerve inside his now cold brain.  
Suddenly he stopped and turned around. His gaze slowly settled on Sapphire, as she lay in the dirt, unconscience.  
"Sapphire....?"  
This proved to be a mistake though, as Coal was suddenly behind him holding him a choke hold. Trunx tried to struggle and get away, but the cold, ruthless part of his personality had just faded away when he had looked at Sapphire. Meaning he was no longer the super power he was a few minutes ago.  
"Now I'll show you a lesson boy." he scowled as he violently kneed him in the back, and threw him to the ground. Jade watched in new horror as she realized that what she had done was a big mistake. In saving her husband she had condemned everyone else.  
  
Coal flew up into the air, holding a hand to his side. His sights were set on Trunx as he slowly began powering up an attack.  
"Now it ends boy. It ends for this entire planet. I'll destroy you all in one blast!!" he screamed laughing maniacally. Everyone realized that this was it, Coal was just going to destroy the entire planet right here and now.  
Everyone seemed frozen in their places. Then the most unexpected person became animated. Of all the great fighters there, it was Bulma who ran out onto the battlefield. She quickly ran to where he son was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscience. And in a desperate move tried to wake him up.  
"Trunx! Please wake up! You have to wake up!" she yelled shaking his unmoving body to no avail. Suddenly the immortal words started leaving Coal's lips.  
  
"KAAAA....MEEEEE......HAAAAA.....MEEEEE....."  
Something about this scene started to have an odd affect on one of the Z fighters. He watched as Bulma refused to budge from her son's side. Watching this he couldn't believe the bravery she was showing. Then all of a sudden he felt a need to protect them. So in a daring blast of energy he zoomed to where Coal was floating in the sky.  
"HAAAA!!!" Coal screamed, though as the blast started to leave his hands, suddenly somebody got in his way.  
Bulma looked up to see what had just happened, she heard Coal finish the Kamehameha, but nothing happened. Then her eyes looked up to where Coal was and she saw someone she never would of expected falling to the ground, looking as if he had been cooked.  
"Vegita!!" she screamed as she dashed to the place where he violently landed. She kneeled down next to him and checked him over.  
Her breath quickened as she realized he was dying. His breathing was getting heavy, and she knew from her medical expertise that the stress from the blast was killing him. And any minute now he would be dead. In a sudden burst of emotion she shook him violently.  
"Vegita!! No no no no! You can't die!" she screamed as she shook him, not knowing why she was doing this. All she knew was that Vegita just could not die. Her tearing eyes brightned as she saw his eyes slowly start to open.  
  
His eyes slowly started to focus as the world started to take color again. What they saw first was the strange woman who he had once had his first born with. He had no idea why she was there, or why she had such a strange expression on her face, all the knew was that he felt something about her. Something he felt in the strangest part of his body, his heart.  
"Bulma....you....why did I....I don't know...." his mind wondered as he watched her holding his hand, squeezing it gently. Almost automatically he began to squeeze it back.  
"I guess....I never told you....or Trunx....how much I care.....for you both..." he stated slowly as he could feel himself starting to slip into darkness again. His last conscience thoughts were that he didn't want to die without telling her how he felt.  
Bulma's heart skipped a beat at those words, and when she saw him starting to slip again she suddenly remembered that she had the senzu beans with her. In a quick movement she took them out and put one in his mouth. Though as she sat back to let him chew, she noticed that his mouth wasn't moving.  
"Eat it Vegita! Please for the love of....just eat it!!" she screamed shaking him again. Though he seemed like he was already gone.  
"Please...if you love me just chew...please." she yelled again, then suddenly the muscles in his mouth started to move. And after a few moments he had eaten the bean. Her eyes brightened as she watched his condition switch to peaceful sleep rather then the sleep of death.  
  
Bulma shook her head suddenly when she noticed someone was standing next to her. She glanced up to see Jade holding Trunx. She slowly laid him down next to her and turned away.  
"Bulma, give Trunx a senzu bean. I'm going to stop Coal once and for all." she simply stated and began to walk to where Coal was. Bulma just nodded, words not seeming to form in her mouth. Her whole body was vibrating from the intense moment she had just had with Vegita, and she no longer cared if she died. All she cared about now was that she didn't want to die alone.  
  
Jade slowly floated to where Coal was. Her eyes burned with no determination. Her face only showed what seemed to be total tranquility. Coal watched her as she approached. His face started to contort in anger. He was getting very bored with these pathetic creatures constantly getting in his way.  
"Thats it. I'm just going to kill Cell's wife right here and now. That will stop all this madness." he simply stated, just not wanting to deal with all these troubles over and over again.  
He prepared to charge at her and give her one crushing blow when she was suddenly right in front of his face. He blinked wondering what the heck she was going to do when suddenly she slapped him across the face.  
"Cell, this is for you." she stated simply. And doing the strangest thing that had been yet seen, she suddenly kissed him. Everyone on the ground had no idea what the heck was going on. All they knew was that up in the sky, Jade and Coal were very close. Though they were to far away to see properly what they were doing exactly.  
Coal's mind suddenly started to swim, as he started to feel himself starting to lose control over something. Then in an istant his mind snapped.  
  
Cell suddenly opened his eyes. After he allowed them to focus after what seemed to be a long sleep, he looked around to see where he was. He looked around and saw that he was in the middle of a vast wasteland. He had no idea how he got there, and had no idea how to get back to where his family was. He slowly started to turn, seeing if he could find a way back to them. But he could not.  
"Where am I?" he wondered out loud.  
"What is this?!" came a voice from behind him. He quickly turned to see Coal standing there, looking just as confused as he was.  
"Coal! I'll kill you!" he screamed bursting out with emotion. His mind suddenly remembering all the horrible things Coal had done. And being who he was, he was going to make him pay for hurting his family.  
"Cell? What the heck is this. I thought I had taken over you body. How can you be standing over there. Oh well, no matter. I have a feeling if I destroy you then I will be able to get out of this place. And get back to killing you wife." Coal simply stated, though his voice took a sudden edge when he mentioned the last sentence.  
  
Cell stamped his foot on the ground. He didn't care how he got here, or where he was. All he right now is that he had to destroy this monster.  
Focusing on nothing but his rage, and pushing the questions he had to the back of his mind. Cell powered up to Super Saiyan 2 and dashed at Coal.  
"I defeated you once. I can do it again." Coal stated as he readied himself in a battle stance. After a short moment, Cell collided with Coal violently. The two immediately got into an battle so quick that the naked eye was unable to see it. Soon after both fighters reappeared and were kneeling on the ground, their backs turned away from each other, showing obvious fatigue.  
  
"It seems I underestimated you. At least you put up a better fight then your daughter did." he mused, mocking Cell outright.  
"How dare you! I'll kill you Coal!!!" Cell screamed, and turned around quickly to attack Coal. Though Coal had already anticpated this and was behind him. Having caught Cell off gaurd he was left almost completely open, and Coal was able to take that opportunity to slam him into the dirt.   
Coal then pushed his foot against Cell's cheek.  
"Oh how the mighty have fallen. I was really hoping that I was going to have fun fighting you Cell. But I guess you dissapointed me." he said with a laugh, pushing his foot onto Cell's face harder.  
Cell gritted his teeth. He was not going to let it end this way. For his wife, for his daughter, and for everyone else. He was not going to end this way. Suddenly he saw an image in his mind. The image slowly took shape, and he could reconize it as Goku.  
  
"Just let go of your anger Cell. A fighter free from an apprehension can do great things." Goku said with his usual goofy smile. Then suddenly Cell's eyes gleamed, he smirked knowing what Goku meant.  
Coal felt himself being lifted off the ground as Cell used new found strength to get up. Not believing that he had just been humiliated so, he quickly stood up.  
"How dare you do that! I had you. Don't you know when to give up!" he screamed, venom pouring out of his mouth.  
"Heh, I'm sorry if I ruined your fun Coal. But it ends here." Cell answered back with a small smile. His eyes rested on Coal as he suddely dashed forwards and upper-cutted him so that he was flung high into the air. Then immediately he chased after him, drawing back his fists to slam him back to the ground. Though after he hit him, he didn't let him fall down, instead he put his knee in the way so that it violently slammed into Coal's stomach.  
Coal fell to the ground, coughing and wheezing. He clutched his stomach as he curled into a ball, his whole body being racked with pain. Cell landed a few feet away from him, then walked over to the fallen tyrant.  
  
Coal looked up with a pathetic look.  
"Cell....I didn't mean what I said before. I mean c'mon, with out strength we could rule the world. Cough Cough. We could rule the universe even. Cough Cough. Why don't you just let me live an...."  
Cell suddenly smiled.  
"Shut up Coal." he simply stated, and with a quick movement he simply lifted his foot, and brang it down on Coal's head, crushing it.   
A horrible scream of pain could be heard eminating from Coal as light began to suddenly eminate from his now dead body. He could feel himself being drawn towards light, and soon he was totally engulfed in it. The light slowly began to blind Cell, and when the light subsided he realized that he was staring face to face with his wife. Not only that, she seemed to be kissing him passionately.  
  
He slowly began to break off the kiss and look into her eyes.  
"Jade? How did I..."   
"Shutup....just shutup." she said with a smile as her eyes glittered with tears of happiness. She hugged him tightly, not caring about anything anymore. Just that her crazy plan had worked and that she had gotten her husband back. Cell just shook his head, forgetting all that had happened, and only allowing himself to feel the happiness of being reunited with is loved ones again.  
Everyone on the ground cheered suddenly when they saw that Coal was no longer Coal anymore. His body had turned to green again, and he was Cell once again. Happines could be literally felt as everyone was practically dancing on the ground. The unbeatable Coal had finally been defeated, and the world had been saved once again.  
Though even with all this happiness, there was one person who didn't feel happiness at all.  
  
Sapphire looked through a blurry cloud. She knew this had to be another one of her dreams but she had no idea what was going on. Or why she was having it at a time like this. Suddenly the clouds parted and she could see the form of what looked like a sword.  
"What the..."  
"There is no time to talk. Here take these. Your foe is not defeated yet." an old voice stated, and Sapphire soon found that there was a set of earrings in her hand.  
"But what are these for?" she asked looking at them. Though before she could be answered the clouds began to get thicker again. And after awhile they started to get darker and darker. Then suddenly she noticed that they were forming into something. She realized what this thing was in horror.  
"What? Coal!!!" she screamed. Then she realized that she was awake again. She glanced around quickly to see that her parents were still holding each other in the sky. A few people looked down at her with smiles on their face, ready to tell her that her father was alright. Though before they got a chance, Sapphire shot off into the sky.  
  
"Mom! Dad! Coal's not dead!" she screamed as she flew towards them. The earrings from her dream still tightly held in her hand.  
They looked down at her happily, until they started to process what she was saying.  
And true to be told, and ominous voice could be heard.  
  
"NO ONE CAN DEFEAT THE LIKES OF COAL!!! IF I CAN'T POSSESS CELL HERE! I'LL JUST FIND A CELL WHICH I CAN POSSESS!" came a extremely loud booming voice, followed by intense light. Everyone covered their eyes as they strained to see where it was coming from.  
All of a sudden a giant hole opened up in the middle of the sky, and Cell started to feel himself being sucked into it.  
"CELL! I'M GOING TO DESTROY YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL! BECAUSE YOUR COMING WITH ME!!!!!!" came the voice once again, as Cell found himself unable to escape the vacuum of the hole.  
  
Jade held onto him tightly.  
"I won't lose you again!" she cried, as she felt herself being aborbed into the hole along with her husband. The last conscience thought she had was seeing her daughter suddenly latch onto her leg. Then in a brilliant flast of light, all three of them were gone.  
Everyone looked around to see what had happened. Their emotions were still caught up in the confusion of the moment. The extreme happiness they had felt a moment ago, was gone now, and had been instead replaced with extreme worry. This sudden change in emotion had caused everyone to be very confused. There was only one thing that anybody could mutter.  
"They...they're gone...."   
  
To Be Continued.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. The Coal Saga: Chapter 7

The Coal Saga: Chapter 7  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
Gohan's eyes flickered in cold intensity as he destroyed the last Cell Jr. Which watching this, Cell for the first time actually felt a bit a fear from the boy. He had tried to hard to push him to his limit to see his true power. But now that he had seen it, he was slightly worried. This worry though was quickly replaced with confidence as he watched the small fighter walk towards him.  
Everyone up on top of the mountain watched in amazement as they saw Gohan walking towards Cell.  
"Heh...didn't I tell ya. Didn't I tell ya he was powerful." Goku managed to mutter as he felt his strength being regained from the Senzu bean that he had eaten.  
"This is....this is impossible!" Vegita exclaimed. Realizing after he had so much trouble fighting one Cell Jr. Gohan had easily defeated them all. He had truelly ascended from a Super Saiyan.  
  
"Now its your turn Cell." Gohan stated coldly as he walked towards the tyrant. He now looked at Cell as nothing more then his enemy that had to be defeated.  
"Boy, you will soon see how powerless you truelly are." Cell retorted, not letting the cool confidence Gohan seemed to generate affect him.   
After this there was a short conversation between the two, that mostly comprised of Cell speaking of how powerful he is. Though it all ended when Gohan just told him to shut up.  
"I'm tired of talking Cell. So are we going to fight or not?" he asked abruptly.  
"You wanna see a fight boy! Then so be it!" he cried, and dashed forward to finish this fight quick with a blow to Gohan's head. Though as he went to punch him, his fist went right through Gohan, and Cell soon found himself reeling back. Gohan had punched him hard in the stomach, though he wasn't through yet. Immediately after Gohan charged forward and upper-cutted the tyrant. This caused Cell to go tumbling back, and fall to his knees, unable to stand up.  
Everyone watched in quiet shock as it seemed that Gohan had won the battle with only two punches.  
  
Cell kneeled on the ground. His anger caused him to tremble with emotion. He couldn't believe that he was losing.  
"How can I be losing. To this...to this boy! This is impossible! I can barely move after only two punches! I have to...I have to.....I have to....." Cell started to say in his mind, though all of a sudden he started to feel funny.  
  
"Hey you guys, is it just me, or is Cell starting to change color?" Krillin asked to the others as he watched the fight.   
"Yeah. Oh my gosh, he's turned completely black!" Yamcha stated, not believing what he was seeing.  
"Oh no! Does Cell have some new power level that we don't even know about!" Trunx yelled. His words were reflected in Cell's actions as he slowly started to stand up, looking totally revived from that last punch.  
"This looks bad you guys, real bad." Yamcha put simply, his eyes starting to once again be replaced with worry. This worry could be seen in everyone's eyes, even including Goku.  
  
Coal stared down at his new body.  
"Hmm, not as powerful as my last one. But enough for me to destroy this world. I wonder when Cell will be getting here. I really had hoped to be able to destroy him immediately. Though I guess I'll just have to entertain myself with his friends in this dimension." Coal mused to himself, as he seemed to be inspecting his body.  
Gohan stared at him for a moment in shock. But his shock was immediately replaced with pure determination.  
"I don't care what color you are! I'll just destroy you Cell!" Gohan screamed, and charged at Coal. Though this proved to be a bad idea, since with only a flick of his hand, Gohan had been planted in the nearby mountain.  
  
The annoucer guy looked shocked, as he clutched a small twig tightly in his hand.  
"Oh my ladies and gentlmen! It seems that Cell has somehow changed color. And the young boy who seemed to be winning a moment ago, looks to be powerless against him. I think this is the end!" he yelled into the twig.  
"Uh you know the camera and the mic are still broken." the camera man stated, turning away from his attempt at fixing the camera.  
"Argh! The story of the century and we're missing it! Satan what will planet earth do with this new menace!" the annoucer yelled, turning to the cowering Satan next to him.  
"Satan?!"  
"What? Uh yes, I uh think there is no need for alarm. For uh, if Cell does beat these amateurs I will defeat him easily. I just hope my stomach virus clears up in time." Hercule said in a burst of cockiness, then shrunk back down below the rock, clutching his stomach.  
"I guess all hope isn't lost yet folks."  
  
Goku started to breath heavily as he watched the events transpire.   
"Gohan....he's....unconscience." Goku stated in horror, as he watched his son slump to the ground.  
"Oh my god guys! This is really it! We're all going to die!" yelled Yamcha in panic, as he saw Coal starting to make his way towards them.  
"I don't know what happened. All of a sudden he seemed to get a power boost. But how? And why does he seem to be moving so slowly. It almost as if he's taking his time to make it up here, sorta like he's waiting for something." Trunx stated, with wide eyes.  
Suddenly they all heard a noise from behind them.  
  
Cell's eyes went wide as the sudden teleportation ride came to abrupt end, and he was suddenly face down in the dirt. His mind quickly moved to what had happened to his family, when they too suddenly landed right on top of him.  
"ACK!"  
"Oh my gosh Cell! I'm so sorry." Jade stated quickly, helping her daughter get off of him, along with herself..  
"Its...no problem....really." he stated shakily. He then started to stand up.  
"So is everyone alright?"  
"Yeah Daddy...but where are we?" Sapphire asked. Her eyes scanning the terrain, they then moved to where all the others were standing a few feet away.  
"Hey! Its Goku, and everyone else!" she cried, standing up, and run over to him. Caught up in the joy of just seeing them, she immediately latched onto Goku.  
"Goku! You're here! I thought we had lost you guys! What happened!?" she asked quickly.  
"Uh Goku do you know this girl?" Krillin asked with a puzzled look.  
"No, I've never seen her before. She looks sorta like Cell actually." he said, stating the obvious. Suddenly everyone eyes turned to Yamcha who seemed to be panicking over something.  
Everyone gasped as Cell and Jade walked over to them.  
"Oh my god!!! It's Cell you guys!" Krillin screamed, starting to run around in panic.  
"But thats impossible! Cell is down there!" Vegita yelled, looking towards Coal, to see that he was still slowly making his way towards them.  
"Uh, and who is that woman with him?" Tien asked.  
"Ahhhh she looks just like Cell!" Krillin screamed, then looked at Sapphire agian.  
"They all look like Cell!"  
  
Jade and Cell gave each other a look. Then Cell walked up to Goku.  
"Uh Goku? What's wrong with Krillin?" he asked casually. Goku just gave him a strange look, but then smiled.  
"I guess he just not used to you being such a nice guy." he stated, his goofy smile remaining.  
"Who is that girl! I demand to know!" Vegita yelled, cutting in.  
"Vegita!? How dare you mock me! You know very well that this is my wife, and thats my daughter over there!" Cell yelled, utterly perturbed by Vegita's rudeness.  
"WIFE!!!! DAUGHTER!!!!" many seemed to yell in unison.  
"I didn't know you were married Cell. Or even had a daughter. But thats not what's important. What is, is that our Cell is destroying the earth. Do you think you could help us out?" Goku asked, still not acting very surprised by the whole situation.  
"Kakkarot! How you can you act so casual, when the very one we've been fighting for so long is standing right in front of you treating you like he's your best friend!" Vegita screamed.  
"Well I think its because King Kai is always telling me stuff about alternate dimenstions. And I just sorta assumed..."  
"You assumed! I don't get you at all!" Vegita cut in again.  
"Well I mean, look at Trunx." Goku said, motioning to him.   
Trunx started to ponder what Goku said in his head, and it all started to make a lot of sense.  
"So your saying that you, and these two girls are from another timeline? Just like me?" Trunx asked, starting to understand this.  
"Then that must mean that thing down there is from your timeline to!" Tien yelled, also understanding it.  
"What thing?" Cell asked.  
"That!" they said in unison, pointing at Coal. They all realized that Cell knew who it was by the way his muscles seemed to tighten when he saw the black Cell.  
"Coal.....how did he get here! Wait, he must of somehow transported us here, as to get a hold of a different Cell!" Cell yelled in understanding. Jade nodded in agreement.  
"Which means that we have to defeat him now. Or else he just jump to another timeline with another Cell."   
  
"So that thing's name is Coal?" Goku asked.  
"Yes. He's a monster from our timeline. Dr. Gero's final project. He's programmed to take over the body of Cell, destroy Goku, and destroy this world. Those are his main orders. Though like Gero's other creations, he chose not to obey completly, and destroyed the computer from which he was spawned." Cell explained.  
"Coal...I can't believe that Dr. Gero is creating horrible creations in even more timelines then my own." Trunx said between clenched teeth. Though his thought was broken when he felt someone tug on his shirt. He looked down to see Sapphire there.  
"Are you really Trunx?" she asked with a curious look.  
"Uh yeah...I am." he answered, sorta confused.  
"Wow. You sure are cute when you're all growed up." she said in a cute voice. This only seemed to leave Trunx looking very confused. Realizing that this was no time for girlish fantasies, she then turned away from him to face her father. Her mind swaying to what that sword said in her dream.  
"C'mon daddy. There are only three people who are strong enough to defeat Coal now. Me, you, and one other." she stated. She then pointed down to the canyone below, to where Gohan lay.  
  
Cell nodded, then tried powering up to Super Saiyan-jin 2, but found himself only able to get to a regular super saiyan.   
"Darn. I can't powerup fully. I'm to weak from all that time spent with my body being controlled by Coal. It seems that you and Gohan will have to face him alone Saphy. I'm sorry..." he said with a low voice, knowing that he was of no use.  
"We do have one more senzu bean left." Krillin stated, holding one out.  
"Good. Sapphy, take this down to Gohan. Give it to him, and then you two can fight." Cell said with a thoughtful look, taking the bean.  
"But daddy, why don't me and you fight...."  
"No. I'm weakened beyond the power of senzu bean's healing ability. I'll only recover in time. The fate of the world is in your and Gohan's hands Saphy. Make me proud." Cell stated, giving the senzu bean to Sapphire.  
"I won't let you down." Sapphire said, her eyes now burning with determination. She prepared to fly down to where Gohan was. In one hand she held the senzu bean, in the other she held the earrings that she had received from that strange dream.  
  
All of a sudden though Coal landed right in front of her.  
"Oh I'm sorry. Did I crash the party. So glad that you and your family could make it Cell. I was worried that I would have to kill you with absolutely no opposition. But I guess I'll get to have the fun of killing them also." Coal stated with an evil sneer.  
Cell suddenly sprang forward and slammed into Coal, knocking him down.  
"Sapphy! Go now!" he yelled. Sapphire took that moment to fly off the cliff and land next to where Gohan lay.  
"Insolent little....!" Coal yelled in disgust, slamming Cell in the back and casting him aside.   
"I'll return for you, once I kill your stupid offspring!" Coal yelled, utter loathing streaming from his voice. Cell tried to stand up to do something, but found himself to weakened to move. Jade kneeled beside him to help him up.  
"I guess its all up to Sapphy." she stated Solemnly.  
"Don't worry. She can do it."  
  
Sapphire landed next to Gohan, kneeling down next to him, so that she may be able to revive him. After propping him up on her knee, she pushed the bean into his mouth.  
"Ok now Gohan chew." she said softly. Her heart was raised, as she began to see that he was still conscience enough to chew. Her mind started to realize how weird it was to see Gohan the same age as her. Ever since she could remember, Gohan had always been someone much older then her. He would always teach her how to be a good person, and she had always looked up to him as a role model. But for the time being she would have to rely on him as her partner, in finally destroying Coal.  
Gohan looked up to see the strangest creature staring back down at him.  
"What? What's going on?!" he asked suddenly, sitting up, his eyes burning with determination.  
"Cell! Cell, where are you?!" he cried standing up, immediately ready for a fight. Sapphire looked up to him in wonder.   
"What's happened to him. He seems so different in this timeline. From his hair it seems that he has made it to Super Saiyan-jin 2. But for some reason it has seemed to done something to his peronality." she thought to herself.   
Coal took that moment to land in front of the two.  
"Cell! There you are! I'll destroy you!" Gohan screamed, and started to charge at Coal. Though he found that he was being held back.  
"Hey are you stupid or something! We have to work together or we won't be able to beat him!" Sapphire cried, realizing how stupid a mistake it would be to charge at Coal with no plan of action.  
"Let me go! I can destroy him! Just watch!" Gohan retored, and broke free from Sapphire's grip.  
"Thatta boy." Coal said with a grin, as he watched the charging Gohan. Though the moment before he was about to pound him into the mountain like before, he was suddenly hit from the side by Sapphire. She then took that moment to pull the stunned Gohan aside.  
  
"Hey! I don't know who you are, or what you are! But I don't need your help in defeating Cell!" Gohan yelled in anger, desperately trying to get free of Sapphire's grasps. Sapphire, now fed up with Gohan's attitude made her aura flare, as she powered up to Super Saiyan-jin 2.  
"See this! I'm just as powerful as you! Probably a lot more powerful! But I still don't stand a chance against Coal! Now we have to come up with a plan, or we're both toast!" she screamed, almost shaking Gohan a bit.  
"I don't know what you are talking about with this Coal or whatever. But I'm sure that I can defeat Cell. Now let go!" he yelled, but Sapphire refused to let up.  
"This is the fate of the world we're talking about here. Your father risked his life and yours so that the world would be safe. Are you really just going to throw that away, just because you think you're so powerful that you don't need any help." she yelled in his face, getting very angry.  
"But I...."  
"Gohan! Think, this isn't the real you. The real Gohan doesn't like to hurt people. Now channel your power so that it isn't purely destructive!" she yelled, shaking him once more.  
"I..."  
"Yes, c'mon Gohan! Think about who you are, and what you have to do!"  
"I am.....I am...I am the defender of this planet." he said shakily. At the sound of this, Sapphire was finally sure that Gohan was ready to fight, and let him stand on his own once again.  
"Good. Now as defender of this planet, lets get rid of that threat over there." she said, pointing to the approaching Coal.  
"Yes. I don't know who you are. But I'll help you in any way I can." Gohan stated, his humanity having now returned to him. They both prepared themselves to give Coal everything they had, and defeat him for good. Their only hope was that in his weaker form, Coal would be able to be defeated.  
  
The two young fighters charged at Coal, full force, trying to catch him off gaurd. Though Coal being as poweful as he was at this point merely dodged their attack, and slammed them into the ground.   
They both immediately got up though, and actually were able to push Coal into a fist fight with both of them. Though to their dismay they seemed to be on the loosing end. And after a few seconds of the lightning fast punches, Gohan and Sapphire found themselves starting to let more and more of Coal's attacks get through.  
"What's wrong children! You don't wanna play with me anymore!" Coal said with a laugh as he finally got a hold of the two, holding them by their necks, one in each hand.  
"You.....won't win...Coal...." Sapphire managed to sputter.  
"We...can....beat you...." Gohan added.  
"Hmph, rubbish." Coal mutterd, and threw the two violently into the same place where he had thrown Gohan before. They slammed hard into the mountain side and sunk to the ground.  
  
"He's to strong....we can't beat him." Gohan stated, painfully getting back to his feet.  
"Don't say that, there has to be a way." Sapphire retorted, tightening her fist. But opened her fist, after feeling something pierce her skin. As she did, she noticed that she had been holding onto those earrings throughout the entire fight.  
Gohan's attention moved from the approaching Coal, and turned to Sapphire.  
"What are we goin......hey what're those?" he asked, mystified at the earrings. The reason being that they had just started to glow.  
"I don't know..."  
  
Almost as if automatically she placed one of the earrings on her left ear.   
"Gohan, I don't know why I'm doing this, but I have this hunch. Here put this on your right ear." she stated, her voice monotone and tired, as if she was in a trance.  
"But what are they? I don't know if I...."  
"Just do it!"   
"Ok ok. Just give me a sec." he said, taking the earring. As his hand moved to put it on his ear, he felt as if he could feel his power beginning to surge as he it moved closer. And the second he placed it on his ear fully, him and Sapphire all of a sudden flew at each as if they had a magnetic attraction.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen. It seems that our two young heroes are unable to defeat the new black Cell. They cannot fight against his.....What is this. There seems to be a large glowing light coming from a corner of the canyon. But the rocks are obscuring my view so I can't see what's going on." stated the annoucer, entranced by the course of events.  
"You know that thing's still broken."  
"Yes I know! I just have to keep talking. Who knows, maybe someone out there can hear me. Anways, so Satan do you know what is going on over there?"  
"Uh, yes of course I do. They must have some artillery cannon hidden in the canyon, which they are going to try to use against Cell. Amaeturs would of course resort of weapons, since they are to weak to fight him themselves." Satan said proudly, beaming with cockiness.  
"Oh Hercule. I bet you could beat Cell with one arm tied behind your back." his lovely assistant cooed, taking that moment to add her two cents.  
"I...probably could." he said with a smirk. His confindence due to the fact that Coal was a very long distance away from them now.  
  
Back up on the mountain, everyone watched in wonder as they saw a bright light swallow up both Gohan and Sapphire.  
"What's going on down there? I can't see." Krillin asked.  
"I don't know. But something happend to Gohan, and that other girl." Piccolo stated.  
"Oh no....Sapphire." Jade said softly. Her worry both on her daughter, and her husband which was slumped against her shoulder.  
"Don't worry.....I'm sure...Sapphire will think of something." Cell managed to mumble, trying to reassure everyone that she knew what she was doing.  
"Don't you think that you're putting to much faith in her." Jade stated, having trouble believing her husband, which at the time being was only able to stand with her help.  
"Just watch...."  
  
Gohan and Sapphire looked down at themselves. As they gazed that started to realize something was very wrong with how they felt. They were sure they were two individual people, but for the time being there was only one person standing there, where two should be.   
As they continued to inspect their new body, they had no idea what the heck had just happened. From outward appearence, the person they had become looked a lot like Gohan, except he was wearing Sapphire's blue armor, and her tail was protruding from his lower back. Though there was something missing from the armor. The wings that went along with it, were nowhere to be found. Finally even though it looked like Gohan, his hair was the wrong color, and instead was blood red, just like Sapphire's was.   
Other then that, ther person could be easily be mistaken for Gohan, and people could just think that he had died his hair, and somehow gotten Sapphire's outfit somewhere. Though what made this being special was not the looks at all, but the immense power that seemed to be eminating from them.  
They shook their head, as if they were having some sorta inner conflict. Coal could only watch in amazement as he gazed at this new fighter standing in front of him. He watched for a few moments as the person seemed to be talking to himself, though Coal soon got sick of watching and wanted to get some answers.  
"Who are you! I demand to know!" Coal yelled in confusion. The person, after hearing his words, turned towards him with a smirk. The fire of determination entered their eyes, as they prepared to enter combat.  
"We ar.....I mean I am.....I am...."  
"Well out with it!! Who are you?!"  
"I guess you can call me......Gophire."  
  
To be Continued.  
  
  
  



	8. The Coal Saga: Chapter 8

The Coal Saga: Chapter 8  
  
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)  
  
(Just one short thing before I begin the next chapter. For anyone who may think that a male and female can't be fused by the earrings, just think about Dai Kaioshin. He was combined with a witch, so you have an example right there.)  
  
Coal slowly started to come out of shock from seeing such a transformation. And as this happened it immediately changed into levity. He could not believe that these two children had actually somehow combined into one being. This notion to him was utterly out of this world. His emotions were immediately shown in his attitude when he started to laugh maniacally.  
"You actually mean that you two twerps actually combined into one being?!"  
The still calm Gophire just stared back at him.  
"You don't believe me. Fine, we'll just have to show you the hard way." came Gophire's odd voice, still being a mixture of both Gohan and Sapphire's.  
"Hmmm. You are the cocky one aren't you. You won't be so cocky after I snuff out your pathetic life. In fact why don't we just get to it." Coal stated in a low voice. He was starting to learn that no matter how much more powerful he was then an opponent, it was important to destroy them in case they find a way to become stronger.  
"My sentiments exactly. But we'll just see who's life gets snuffed out Coal..." Gophire's voice drifted away as he spoke, as if the destruction of Coal was merely a side note to his day.  
  
The lack of emotion that Coal sensed in Gophire's voice immediately sent him off the handle. He was not going to let some mutated creature make fun of his power. Without another word Coal charged forward at lightning speed to finally eraticate this deranged life form in which he had been forced to deal with.  
Gophire on the other hand wasn't going to go down that easily, and had already prepared to avoid such a mad dash. The part of him that was Sapphire knew of Coal's wicked temper, and with enough egging on, Coal would be sure to do such a mad rush.  
In light of this Coal found himself charging forward at nothing, and Gophire was already behind him, a fist ready to crush in Coal's head. But yet, Coal was still able to live up to the power level he always boasted, and corrected the error in his mad dash immediately. In an instant he had already leaped from the area he had stopped in mid dash. His now airborn vantage point allowed him to see that his plan had gone successfully, and it was now Gophire's turn to be bewildered by quick movements.  
  
"Darnit! He's so fast. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to show him a lesson or two." Gophire said with a smirk, and flew up into the air after Coal. The two combatants faced each other in the air. Their cold stares reflected the hate they felt for each other. Yet neither of them moved. Almost as if they were waiting for the right moment to strike.  
A cold wind blew through the canyon, gently rustling the few shrubs that grew there. And as it passed both fighters sprang into action. Both ready to destroy the other in a burst of passion.   
They both collided in an explosion of energy. Hate could be literally felt as they battled each other. For every punch that was thrown, every part of that one throwing it's being could be felt in it. And you could realize that both fought with one thing on their minds, the world depended on this fight.  
After the beating had taken place, they now moved into the next stage of feeling out there opponent. Since they had now seen each other's strength, it was now time to see each other's speed. The two, without rest, started the lightning fast battles, in which no ordinary person could see. The subsequent explosions that randomly appeared in the sky left Satan, and the camera crew in awe as they watched.  
  
"A trick! Its a trick!" yelled Satan at the top of his lungs. But he soon found himself ducking in fear as an explosion came frighteningly near the group.  
"Lad...an...gentl....I uh....don't....." the annoucer tried to stutter, but found himself to frightened and amazed to form actual words in his mouth. This seemed to go for everyone, as all eyes were glued to the sky where a lightning show of explosions was taking place.  
  
Up in the sky the sky Coal was starting to get desperate. He was finding that he was slowly beginning to lose. This Gophire creation was almost power equal to him. As well, since Gophire was a lot smaller, hitting him was becoming more and more difficult.  
"I can't be losing to some...to some crea....."  
Coal was cut off as Gophire kneed him hard in the stomach. Coal's eyes shot open in fear in rage as he realized that the feeling that he had just received from this attack, was the same feeling that the Cell inside of him had felt when he had battled Gohan. In other words, Coal knew he was going to lose unless he did something quick.  
Gophire held Coal by his neck. The once great tyrant hung there helplessly. All his power having been destroyed in one attack. Though there was one thing wrong in this picture. The amount of over confidence that Gohan had displayed before, was being reflected in Gophire's eyes. Having practically defeated Coal, that part of Gohan was starting to resurface.  
  
"And now Coal you....you...." started Gophire, but for some reason he found himself starting to have some inner conflict. The Sapphire part of him was conflicting with the over confident part of Gohan's personality. And the emotions that filled Gophire's head were beginning to alter his ability to think and act straight.  
Coal immediately saw this hesitation and a released himself from Gophire's grasp. Then in an instant movement took Gophire into a head lock.  
"And now boy...girl....whatever you are! You die now!! I'll crush the life out of your pathetic form, and you will plague me no longer!" Coal said in one of usual long winded speeches.   
"So...what...are you waiting for...just do it....already.." Gophire managed to sputter with a hint of mockery.  
"HAHA! You mock me, even on the brink of death you mock me. Well I will grant you your wish urchin. I will...."  
"STOP!"  
  
Coal looked down to see who had interrupted such an important moment. Floating there a few feet away was none other then Sapphire's mother, Jade.  
"Leave the children alone Cell." she annouced coldly.  
"And what if I don't woman. And why do you call me Cell?!" he asked angrily, his grip tightening around Gophire's neck.  
"Leave me alone! I can handle this!" Gophire cried in a sudden outburst.  
"No! I won't leave any of you alone. I can't watch these meaningless battles anymore. Inside you Coal is Cell. The same Cell in which I fell in love with, and married. If that truelly is him inside of you then I know that he will be affected by these words." she said, taking a deep breath.  
"Cell, I know your heart is filled with the rage set forth by Dr. Gero's words. But it is not the only way. If you look down there you will see yourself lying there on the cliff. To you it may seem like a pathetic, unworthy version of yourself. But in truth he is many times more powerful then you. But he is still you. You have the ability to become the most powerful being on this planet. You also have the power to find happiness...."  
"Just shut up you stupid female. I'm do not wish to listen to your pointless arguments anymore. I will just kill this hybrid of your annoying little daughter and be done with it." Interrupted Coal, tightening his squeeze on Gohpire's neck, preparting to snap it.  
  
"Now you......" Coal started. But for some reason he looked as if he was feeling sick. His grip on Gophire began to loosen, and he started to lose altitude, till he found himself once again on the ground. Gophire, now finally able to free himself from Coal's grasp, used the last of his strength to give Coal one last rage filled punch right into his stomach. But with the last of his energy expended, the newly fused warrior flopped to the ground in exhaustion.  
  
"Hey Goku look. Coal looks...sick...." Krillin managed to say, coming out of the awe of watching the situation unfold.  
"What's....going on..." Trunx asked no one in particular.  
Coal stood there for a few moments looking like he was going to throw something up. His cheeks puffed out from what looked like some liquid coming out of his mouth. He desperately covered his mouth with his hands, trying to hold whatever was coming out inside. But he was finding himself unable to do so, and collapsed to his knees in his struggle.   
After a long while something could be see travelling up the creature's throat, and as this happend the color of Coal's armor began to flash from black to green. At the final moment, Coal's armor stayed on the color green, and something suddenly spewed out of his mouth. Which it then lay, a few feet away from an unconscience Cell. A look of shock could be seen on every single person present in the canyon. None of them could comprehend exactly what had just happened, but they were amazed none the less.  
  
"Crackle...Buzz....Systems Online. Re-evaluating situation. New target acquired. Starting new mission: Destroy Jade."  
What seemed to be a small black creature slowly started to rise from the muck that Cell had thrown up. And as it stood upright, the goo fell of it revealing the true nature of the being. It was actually what looked to be the skeletal structure of a robot. Not only that, it seemed to vaguelly resemble what Frieza had looked like when he had been rebuilt by his scientists in space. The only real difference was that this creature was fully mechanical, and more black in color.  
Jade landed on the ground, utterly amazed by the course of events. She could feel her stomach turn as she watched this small machine slowly making its way towards her. The goo that fell from its body as it advanced almost made Jade want to do a little vomitting herself.  
"Ugh, what are you?"  
"I am Coal. I am Dr. Gero's final creation. And I....And I....And I...." The robot said in what sounded like garbled electronic english. She just stared at it questionably as it slowly approached.  
"And I will destroy you!"  
The small robot immediately started to charge at her, using both its arms and legs to run. It truelly was a frightening spectacle to watch such a freaky looking creature running in such a way.  
  
Jade had no choice but to fly up into the air. She had no idea how to fight, and no idea how to destroy this creature. The only thing she did know was that this thing was fast, and it wanted to be the end of her. She watched as the creature ran at lightning speed towards the nearest canyon, leaving her site momentarily. Though her mind soon raced after she realized that it had simply used the canyon wall as a ground, and had flung itself through the air straight at her.  
She only had moments to move out of the way, and she was only able to move out of the way partially. Since as the creature flew by her, she noticed a large wound in her arm. Large teeth marks could be seen around it. She once again turned to see the what she now perceived to be Coal, land on the ground, and charge at another canyon, attempting to do the trick over again.  
"Well now I know two more things. Not only can he move, he can also jump pretty dang well, and also has very VERY sharp teeth." she mumbled to herself, touching her now healing arm.  
  
That one moment in which she had taken to tend to arm turned out to be the worse thing she could do, since at even a quicker pace then before Coal had slammed right into her, just as he had attempted the first time.  
She gasped, not knowing what had just happened, as she could see Coal running for the canyon wall yet again, to try is one last time. She realized why he was doing it another time when she looked down. Right where her midsegment should be was a gigantic hole. He had literally bitten her in half, and she could see her legs on the ground below.  
She had no time to move. Coal had successfully jumped again, and was now inches away from her. He had taken the moment she had been staring at her recently decapitated legs, and was aiming for the thing that would kill her. Her head.  
  
She turned her head in shock as she closed her eyes waiting for the end. She heard a loud cracking sound and thought she had just gotten her head bitten off. Though when she opened her eyes, floating in front of her was Goku.  
"Jade was it? Get out of here. I'll handle this." Goku said in a cool, collected voice. His gaze had settled on the animalistic Coal which had literally grown claws on his hands and growled and hissed like a beast.  
The fight between Goku and Coal was short. Goku was many times more powerful then the weakened Coal. But Coal was much much faster then him. And with the combination of claws and teeth, Goku soon found himself bleeding pretty badly.  
"Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" came the constant rambling of the robot Coal gone mad. He had devolved into mercilessly clawing at the now helpless Goku. And since Goku could feel himself starten to weaken from blood loss could only smirk as he had one emergency plan. A plan that he had only used once before  
  
Jade landed on the ground. Her newly formed legs felt weird to her, so she had to lay next to the fallen Gophire. Her attention no longer on the fight, she was now only worried about reviving the thing in which her daughter had become. Just before she began to tend to him though, her eyes shifted to Cell who lay a few feet away from Gophire. Her eyes glistened a bit as she suddenly realized that this is what her Cell would of become if not for her. She would of revelled longer on this fact, though suddenly she heard a bellow coming from a short distance away from her.  
Her eyes widened as she saw that Goku was behind Coal, looking badly beaten, and restraining Coal's flailing arms with his own.  
"Jade! Do it now!" he cried in rage. He spoke quickly and to the point knowing that he would only be able to restrain Coal for a few seconds in his state. Jade stood up suddenly, absoluately stunned from this course of events.  
  
Up on the cliff Piccolo immediately reconized this stance from long ago.  
"Goku's going to sacrafice himself to defeat Coal!"  
"What?!" Everyone else cried at once.  
"The last time I saw this stance was when he was restraining his brother Raditz. And I was the one who ended his life at his request. I think he is now asking that woman to do the same."  
"How can Kakkarot entrust the fate of the world to a woman!" exclaimed Vegita.  
"I don't know if she can do it." Yamcha thought outloud.  
"Just wait. We'll just have to see." stated Trunx. His along with everyone else's eyes now glued to the fight.  
"Jade...." Cell managed to sputter as he lay there on the gorund, unable to help her. His mind could only dwell on thoughts of not being able to protect the one whom he had sworn himself to.  
  
Jade stood there, a stunned expression on her face.  
"Goku I can't!"  
"Just do it! There's no time!"  
"But I...."  
Jade could no longer think, she had no idea what to do. But suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She blinked, wondering who it was. Then she saw Cell taking his place front of her. But this was not her Cell, this was the Cell from this era.  
"Cell...."  
"How dare you take over my body like that! I will destroy you, and destroying Goku will only be an added bonus." Cell's enraged voice bellowed. Goku just closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the past to repeat itself. His lasts thoughts dwelled on the irony of actually having to rely on someone like Cell.  
  
Cell walked forward, not knowing that which drove him to do so. With every step he took, he could feel changes inside him occuring. He immediately dismissed these as some sort of fear, since there would be only one way to destroy Coal. Without the strength to use any energy attacks, Cell only had one weapon to use. The bomb planted inside him.  
He approached forward until he was directly in front of the thrashing Coal. And slowly his body began to glow. In an unsuspected move he turned back to where a surprised Jade stand.  
"Woman! Get that loathsome child and yourself out of here!" he yelled, before turning back to Coal and Goku. Jade took that cue to scoop up Gophire and fly into the sky, though she found herself moving slightly slow. Her mind felt as if she was leaving part of her behind, and as she turned back from her floating position in the sky to watch was was happening, and realized what was wrong. She was about to watch her husband die.  
  
Back on the ground, Coal finally broke free of Goku's grip and he started to slump to the ground. All he could think about was that it was all up to Cell now. Coal charged forward in a mad dash and stabbed Cell though the chest. Though when the crazy machine looked up to see the damage, he was only met with a smirk.   
What made Cell smirk was that android 18 had suddenly gone flying out of Cell, amazingly enough. The force of Coal's blow had somehow caused her to be released from the prison inside Cell, and burst through the hole that had been made.  
Cell couldn't believe that for some reason he had wanted to save one of these androids, since he actually felt a sense of happiness that he would not have to bring more then 3 beings down with him. And somehow this had all gone to some disturbing plan that he had.  
  
Coal's garbled electronic crys could be heard eminating from him. As he realized that he had done more then just release 18 from Cell's innerds. He had also activated the bomb that Cell had been charging to detonate! And to Coal's horor, he was unable to free himself from the now laughing Cell.  
Everyone had to cover their eyes as the huge explosion rocked the entire planet. Everyone on the cliff had to take cover on the ground, and Jade found herself blown out of the sky, and mysteriously not slamming into anything hard. Meanwhile Satan and the others were blown a long distance from where they had been sitting, and eventually stopped when they all hit a very large rock.  
  
As the smoke cleared everyone looked to see what had happened. Jade first looked to see why she hadn't crashed. When she looked up she realized that Cell had somehow caught her, showing an amazing amount of strength in his weakend condition. Though they were unable to speak to each other, as their attention immediately turned to the large crater where the explosion had occured.  
A gasp could be heard as they noticed what was at the bottom of it. Nothing! Nothing was at the moment of the crater. The explosion had completely wiped out Coal, Cell, and Goku. Words could not describe the shock that everyone had as they let the shock of Goku being dead hit them. They all could only think that even though they had destroyed two evil tyrants, was the price really worth this much?  
Everyone turned their gaze as they watched Jade stand to the edge of the gliff. The unconscience Gophire still in her hands. Her look of shock and sadness seemed to almost outshine the others.  
"He had changed ya know. Cell had changed. Cell, Goku....they shouldn't of died. They shouldn't of died...." she thought outloud to no one, tears slowly starting to form in her eyes. Though nobody could say anything to comfort her.  
"He didn't die...in vain....."  
Jade looked around to see who had just said that.  
"Cell didn't die in vain ya know. He died protecting the world." Gophire said, slowly waking up from the sleep of exhaustion. Jade set Gophire down, having a mixture of feelings.  
"I know you think he didn't have to die. But he didn't die in vain. He was protecting us all. He was, just like Goku."  
  
Everyone really pondered that last statement, and it really started to make sense to them. Cell in the end, had turned out to be a lot like Goku. Who would of ever guessed?  
Jade smiled a bit thinking about it as well.   
"I guess....I guess you're right." she said with a happier tone. Gophire's words had really affected everyone there, and a happier mood could be felt forming among them. Cell then took that time to slowly make his way next to his wife. He looked down at Gophire in thought.  
"Gophire. We need you to turn back now." he said in almost a commanding voice. Gophire just shook his head and looked down.  
"Thats the thing. We can't. This is permenant."  
"What?!" Jade and Cell exclaimed. Murmurs could be heard from the group as everyone was shocked by this turn events. Though the panic that was starting to rise among them soon dissapeared as a bright light started shining in the sky. And everyone had turned their heads upward to see the source.  
Jade and Cell suddenly could feel their bodies becoming light, and before they knew it they dissapeared suddenly. As well, when Gophire stared at the light, he could feel the earrings on his ears beginning to break. And suddenly he was no longer Gophire anymore. He was once again both Sapphire and Gohan. Nobody had any time to think about all that had just happened. So they did the only thing they could think about doing, say their goodbyes.  
  
Gohan looked at the fading Sapphire with a smile, and extended his hand.  
"Well being one person was fun. But I guess we go our seperate ways now." he said seemingly unfazed by all that had happened. Sapphire on the other hand was reluctant to take his.  
"But what about your father..."  
"He...did what he thought was right. And I have to respect that...." Gohan said with a distant look. Sapphire smiled, taking his hand into hers and shaking it. A hint of a smile could be seen spreading across Gohan's face as he shook hands.  
"Thank you Gohan for everything....." were the last words that Sapphire spoke before she turned into light as well and was drawn towards the shimmering light in the sky.  
"Bye Sapphire! Say hello to my alternate self for me!" Gohan yelled as he waved goodbye to her.  
Just as quickly as the bright light in the sky had came, it quickly dissapeared. Along with it went Cell and his family.  
  
Back in their time, Goku and the others looked around desperately trying to find out where Cell and his family had dissapeared to. Though just as soon as they had left, the bright light which had swallowed them up in the first place appeared again. And everyone was soon staring at a Cell, his wife and daughter lying on top of him, all in awkward positions. Cell, meanwhile looking miserable undernearth.  
"Woohoo! What a ride!" Sapphire beamed, hopping off her father.  
"Man that was....."  
She was interrupted when Trunx practically glomped onto her. Though a second afterwards he let go, feeling very embarrased.  
"I'm sorry...I was just worried...and...."  
"Don't worry I understand. I'm glad to see you to." she reassured him with a cute smile. This only caused him to blush lightly. Of course this also leading to Goten picking on him about it.  
  
Everyone around Goku stared at the spectacle with disbelieving eyes. That is all except Goku.  
"So have a nice trip you guys?" he asked in a perfectly natural voice.  
"Yes, but I wish they are more expected next time." Jade said, getting off her husband as well.  
"You wouldn't believe what happened." Cell added as he stood up as well.  
"We'll talk about it later. Right now I want to get home." replied Goku.  
"Yeah I really just want to finally put an end to all this." added Gohan. Goku just returned his son's look with a look of confusion.  
"Actually I'm just starving. I gotta get something to eat." he said sorta whining. Everyone shook they're heads in disbelief. Though they all smiled afterwards, liking the feeling of normality back.  
  
After everyone had finally gotten ready, they finally started on their way home. The atmosphere of this trip was very bright. The only negative atmosphere at all came from Bulma's constant fussing about Vegita who lay unconscience, being held by Krillin. This seemed to annoy Yamcha the most since he was the one who had gotten stuck carrying her home.  
When they finally made it home, everyone went inside for a much needed rest that they all had coming. The only one who didn't though was Gohan, who had opted to be alone for the moment. Though he wasn't alone for long as a unknown assailant approached from behind him, and violently threw him into the wall, after which held him tightly by his neck.  
He gasped in panic when he realized who it was.  
"Videl...I'm sorry...I should've called...."  
"You're darn right you should of called!!!!!!!!! I swear! You are just as lazy as my father sometimes. Here I am just sitting there waiting for you, and I hear that you skipped town! I can't believe that you........" continued on Videl's constant rants. And that put a closing to one of the most important days in all the Z warriors lives. Though there was still one problem to fix....Frieza.  
  
Epilogue.  
  
Goku stood in front of Shenlong the eternal dragon as it loomed over him. During the time after Coal's defeat, Goku had busied himself with finding a way to bring Frieza back. So he had gone to the planet Namek. There he had picked up Dende. The namekian in which Gohan had known as a little boy. Though now he was a full grown man.  
With him as a guardian the dragon balls had been resurrected, and the dragon could now grant two wishes. Goku, Dende, and Mr. Popo now stood on Dende's lookout, facing the newly called upon dragon.  
"What are your wishes?" came the dragons booming voice.  
"We wish that all the people in which Coal killed be brought back to life." Goku said instantly. There was an instant flash of light, and all the city's that had layed desolate since Coal's attack once again filled with people. Though most of them were very disorientated, having such a sudden reprieve from death.  
Goku looked around the lookout, in hopes that Frieza would somehow just magically appear there, since he had been killed by Coal as well.  
"There is one I could not bring back. The one in which you call Frieza. What is your second wish?" the dragon asked again.  
"Why couldn't Frieza be brought back?" Dende asked.  
"His sins of the past are to great. He cannot be allowed back on earth unless some payment can be given." the dragon stated.  
"Is there anything you can do?" Goku asked.  
"There is one thing. Do you truelly wish for this being to be let back onto the earth?" the dragon asked them. After looking to Dende, seeing his nodding head, Goku turned back to the dragon.  
"Yes, we do."  
"Your wish shall be granted." bellowed the dragon.   
  
Suddenly there was a bright shining light, and Goku soon felt something being held in his arms. He looked down to see what seemed to be a baby Frieza wriggling around in his grasp. His small three toed feet kicked into the air, and his tail wiggled back in forth as he lay there. Dende and Mr. Popo crowded around Goku to see what had become of Frieza. They didn't even notice that the dragon had dissapeared once again, and had seperated into the seven dragonballs. They were to much in awe of seeing Frieza, the once great tyrant of the universe, a small child.  
"Its Frieza...but he's a baby." Dende stated surprised.  
"Oh my. He isn't dead after all." Popo said kinda dumbly  
"I hope you can raise him a bit better then King Cold did." Dende announced.  
Goku's gaze lifted as he watched the parting clouds that came along with the dragon starting to part, letting the sun once again shine through. He then looked back down at Frieza. He couldn't help but notice that there was not a hint of evil in his now young eyes, just the wonder of newborn could be seen.  
"I'm sure we will."  
  
The End  
  
To Be Continued in "A Light at the end of the tunnel."  
  
(Hurray I'm finally down with my fic.....NOT. If you think I'm stopping here then you got another thing coming. I guess you could mark this as the half way mark or so. Since after this we move into the Buu saga. So for those who don't want any spoilers I suggest that you turn back now, since there are going to be a lot of them in the following chapters. Though I actually shouldn't say that, since I'm going to do one more mini-fic about a certain relationship in which you all can see developing in the story. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that this fic isn't dissapearing any time soon. Thanks to all you who enjoy it.) 


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